Second Chance
by Shadow-Hawk2
Summary: After spending five years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Duo Maxwell tries to turn his life around despite forces working to send him back to prison. Finding out who was responsible and why might shake the stability of his colony.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Miss Darlian has already retired for the night, Mr. Yuy." The gatekeeper to Relena Darlian's penthouse apartment was staring straight into Heero's eyes, her lips pressed together in a thin line of disapproval.

"She is expecting me," he told her, suppressing his impatience at being denied entrance.

"I was not informed that she would be receiving a late-night visitor."

Heero caught himself before he rolled his eyes. Relena's housekeeper was well aware of his nocturnal visits and they had played out this scene many times in the past. She probably thought he was taking advantage of Relena although if anyone was being taken advantage of, it was him.

"I will wait while you inform her that I am here. She wasn't expecting to see me until tomorrow, but I was able to catch an earlier flight from Barbados." Heero felt ridiculous explaining this to the middle-aged woman but getting past her was an obstacle he had to overcome every time he visited Relena's apartment.

"Then you can visit her tomorrow at her office at a reasonable time of day." The housekeeper tried to shut the door, but Heero put his hand against the thick wood panel to prevent her. The older woman stubbornly met his gaze, but he would be damned if he gave in.

"Mrs. Jansen is there a problem?"

Relena's voice made the other woman look away for just a second and that was enough for Heero to push past her into the apartment. Relena was wearing a clingy dressing gown and since he knew that she usually wore an old fuzzy pink bathrobe unless he was visiting, she must have heard their discussion at the door and changed into this provocative garment just for him. She had yet to realize that she didn't need to make the effort to attract him, especially since he thought the old bathrobe was endearing although he had only ever seen it hanging in the back of her closet.

Mrs. Jansen closed the door abruptly behind Heero and he was amused by her irritation at not being able to prevent his entrance into her lair. Shouldering past him, she asked Relena, "Will you be needing anything before I go to bed?"

Relena looked at Heero. "Are you hungry? Perhaps Mrs. Jansen can bring you something to eat."

He was hungry, but there was no way in hell he was going to ask that woman to bring him food. "I had something on the plane." A pack of pretzels and some water, but she didn't need to know that.

"Mrs. Jansen, before you retire, please bring me a sandwich. I didn't eat very much at the reception for the ambassador, and I'm finding that I am hungry now." She glanced at Heero's hand in which he held a briefcase. "I have a feeling I won't be getting to bed any time soon."

After a scathing glance at Heero, the housekeeper walked stiffly away in the direction of the kitchen. He watched her for a moment before turning back to Relena. "Did you have to do that? She's already pissed at me."

"For showing up after midnight, I'd say she has good reason." Relena came to him and slipped her arms around his neck. "But I don't mind one bit."

His reason for coming to see her upon his return from Barbados had nothing to do with what she had in mind, but after spending a two-week vacation with the Winner family and seeing how happy Dorothy Catalonia and Quatre Winner were together, he didn't mind holding Relena in his arms. Once they were kissing, he forgot about the original purpose for his visit. Lifting her in his arms and without breaking their kiss, he carried her through the apartment to her bedroom. He'd been there plenty of times, so he didn't need to look to find his way. Once he shut the door with his foot and put her down on her feet, Relena helped him peel off his clothing before she untied the wide sash of the dressing gown to let it slip over her shoulders and down to the floor. He wasn't surprised that she wasn't wearing anything beneath, but then he didn't really think she was either.

Even though he had read articles in the society pages about social functions that Relena had attended with various men during his vacation and that there was speculation that she might be considering a relationship with an eligible bachelor, her eagerness to be with him now proved she hadn't done anything more than let those eligible bachelors act as her escort. Not that he had any right to be upset if she had invited any of them to her apartment. He was a security officer and she was an important diplomat. Heero knew that they would probably never have anything more than what they did now, trysts that her housekeeper condemned and blamed him for even though Relena encouraged his visits.

Heero forgot about the housekeeper for the rest of the night, and if she brought the sandwich, neither he nor Relena noticed. The following morning, Heero awoke to a knock at the bedroom door which was followed by a muffled announcement that tea and toast would be left on the table outside the door. He stretched and clasped his hands behind his head as he watched Relena crawl from the bed, slip on her dressing gown and head to the door. He could see by the window that the sun hadn't risen yet, but he knew that she got up early so that she could get to her office as soon as possible.

She opened the door and disappeared into the hall for a moment before she returned carrying a tray which she set on the small table on her side of the bed. "Mrs. Jansen neglected to bring another cup," she remarked with a half-smile.

"I don't like tea anyway," said Heero as he watched her fill the cup and sip it for a moment before she looked at him.

"Should I ask her to bring coffee?"

"Along with a decent breakfast," he responded with a glance at the toast and jam on the tray.

"I can't eat much this early in the morning. Besides, I have a breakfast meeting at eight with representatives from Colony L3, a meeting with my staff that always includes pastries and then lunch with ..."

"I get it," he interrupted her. He knew her schedule well enough, had even looked it over on the plane to find a time to speak to her, and seeing that her time was booked solid for the next few days, had to settle for bringing up what he wanted to discuss during their private moments together.

Relena went to an intercom and Heero listened to her order him eggs, bacon and toast along with coffee before she returned to bed with a slice of toast she had slathered with strawberry jam. He watched her munch on the toast for a moment before remarking, "You get crumbs in bed."

She shrugged and reached for the cup of tea she had placed beside the bed. "That is the least of Mrs. Jansen's worries about what I get in my bed."

Chuckling as Heero swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he left to find his pants in a heap near the door. As he pulled them on, he mused that they hadn't gotten very far into the room, and any plans he had made on the plane to discuss a project he had in mind were doomed to failure. He left the room to find his briefcase where he had dropped it the night before, and he was glad that he didn't run into any fire-breathing housekeepers although he did hear the faint sounds of pots or pants being banged in the kitchen. He was sure that if he were anywhere near her, he would end up getting brained.

When he returned to the bedroom, Relena was still in bed eating toast, but she eyed the briefcase he tossed on the bed with annoyance. "I don't suppose you brought that in because you keep your toothbrush in there."

He popped it open. "I wasn't just on vacation in Barbados."

"I didn't think you were, but as long as you are on the subject, how did you enjoy the island?"

"I spent most of it babysitting," he said with a smile as he remembered how often Jamila Winner, Dorothy and Quatre's five-year-old daughter, was at the bungalow they had provided him. He hadn't minded because she was a sweet child and they had similar interests, swimming, building sand castles and eating ice cream.

Relena leaned over to nuzzle his neck and murmur in his ear. "Did that give you any ideas for our future?"

He didn't think they had a future, but he didn't say so because they might start arguing over it again and he had something to discuss with her before she left for work. Ignoring her question, he pulled out a folder, and when he opened it, Relena released him.

"I don't see a toothbrush," she commented with a sigh.

"It's in my jacket pocket," he told her as he handed the folder to her. "My informants on Colony L2 suspect widespread corruption. With elections coming up, it's important to ferret out the exact nature of the corruption. We don't want another situation like L4 on our hands."

She closed the folder without looking at the contents. "This is more about Duo Maxwell than it is the colony. I've kept informed about what is happening there. Authorities have managed to curtail the criminal activity on the colony and the leading candidates for election are particularly tough on crime. Isn't that what we want?"

"Not when innocent people are being put in prison, and because of the government's draconian policies, they are punished for the rest of their lives no matter how petty the crime." Heero should be happy that the colony was trying to discourage crime, but the government had gone overboard.

Relena frowned. "Heero, I know you want to believe that Duo Maxwell was innocent …"

"I know he isn't a model citizen, but five years in prison for receiving stolen goods?"

"Duo Maxwell was bound to get into trouble," she said. "As a salvager, he should have been particularly careful with the items he recovered. Unfortunately, some unsavory individuals from his past didn't do him any favors by contacting him. He should not have helped them dispose of their stolen materials. Didn't you discover that he was breaking the law again after being released from prison?"

"Dorothy told me that Duo set her up with contacts that could help her, not that he did it himself. Do I need to remind you that she was the one breaking the law?"

Relena waved her hand dismissively and that irritated him. Of course, she wouldn't condemn Dorothy. Not only were they friends, but Dorothy Catalonia was a noblewoman. The crime of concealing her identity and using a forged passport to avoid being tracked down was seen as an eccentric foible when she did it. However, if a commoner did the same thing, it would be punishable by fines and possibly imprisonment.

"What do you want to do then?" Relena asked him. "I assume that you have a plan."

"I've tried to contact Maxwell to offer him employment off that colony, but I haven't been able to reach him. Coupled with my concerns about the colony, I need to delve deeper into what exactly is going on there. I can hardly do anything from here, so I am asking to be relieved of my duty as the head of your security to go to L2 and sort out the mess."

Relena blinked as she stared at him and then she shook her head. "No! I didn't like being separated so you could go on vacation even though it was only a couple of weeks. I should have come with you."

"You know as well as I do that it would have caused a scandal. We've managed to keep our relationship secret so far. I'd rather not push it."

"Relationship? Secret visits to my bed can hardly be considered a relationship!"

Heero was starting to get a headache. "Now is not the time to argue about this."

Before she could reply, there was a knock at the door. "May I bring in breakfast?" he heard Mrs. Jansen ask from the other side of the closed door.

Relena gave Heero a look that warned him they were not done with this discussion. "You may come in."

The woman bustled in with a large tray, glanced briefly at the bed only long enough for Heero to see the smug look on her face which told him she had heard Relena's angry words. She set the tray down on the table so swiftly that the china rattled, then took the other tray and left, but not before pausing at the door to smirk at Heero. He wondered if he could get a poster of her to use at the shooting range to practice his aim. There was a spot between her eyes where the ends of her thick, graying eyebrows nearly met that he would like to put a bullet through to keep them separated.

Relena didn't seem to notice as she had taken up the folder to look through the papers. "I will clear my calendar and visit L2. Dorothy did ask me if I would attend a charity event there, but I told her that I was too busy."

"You don't have to do this," he told her. He didn't like the idea of her going to a colony that he considered lawless despite their government's attempt to prove otherwise.

"I've made up my mind," she said with a defiant lift to her chin. "I am going to Colony L2 and you will head the security detail. Now eat something and get back in bed. I'm canceling my breakfast meeting."

Heero raised his brows and met her challenging gaze. Then he gave her a slow smile. "You are the boss, Miss Darlian."


	2. Chapter 1

**One**

"Maxwell, have you been wearing a hairnet?"

Hearing the loud shout from the other end of the cookline, Duo Maxwell stopped chopping lettuce and reached frantically into the pocket of his jeans to find the stringy scrap. He had barely gotten his fingers untangled from it and slipped it over his head before a large-bellied man stood over him with a frown, his beady dark eyes fixed on the lopsided hairnet that barely covered the top of his head.

Duo met his gaze with innocence. "I've been wearing it."

The chef, Rogelio Santora, referred to not so affectionately as carbuncle by the staff because his specialty was carbonara, raised his thick fingers pinched together before Duo's face and dangled a nearly three-foot long strand of hair. "Care to explain where this came from?"

There was only one place it could have come from since the rest of the workers in the kitchen had short hair or if they didn't, it was neatly tucked under a small white cap or trapped inside a hairnet. The hat was too hot in a place that was already sweltering with heat from ovens and he couldn't hold all his hair in a net anyway without looking like he was carrying an anaconda trapped at the back of his head.

Regardless of his guilt, Duo shrugged and without looking away he said, "Maybe it's yours?"

All the typical man-made noise from the kitchen, the sound of metal clanging against heating elements or spoons used in pans stopped although the sizzle and bubbling from pots and pans continued. Duo didn't need to look to know that heads were turned to him, probably with a mixed bag of looks on the faces ranging from horror to anticipation. He had his friends in the kitchen and he had his enemies. Enemy number one swept off his white toque to reveal a shining pate that Duo could probably see his reflection in if he looked hard enough. The man didn't have a single strand of hair.

Despite the possibility that he might get his face jammed into a frying pan alongside a steak, Duo remarked, "I guess we know what happened to the last of your hair."

Carbuncle seized a handful of cloth at Duo's face and dragged him up so that they were nose to nose. "I don't care who you are or what you have done in the past, Maxwell, because you're nothing but a dungeon rat now and that's all you'll ever be."

The dungeon was the name most people used to refer to maximum security L2 Penal Sector 100947 where Duo had spent five years serving the sentence for a crime he did not commit. Whether he did or not, he had been found guilty during a sensational trial in which the colony government had a chance to prove that it would not tolerate any transgression, no matter who stood before the judge. Heero Yuy had come to speak on his behalf, but his recitation of Duo's deeds during the war only seemed to make his judges even less likely to grant leniency. Instead, they doubled his sentence, claiming that the damage his actions had done to the reputation of the colony was irretrievable. If they could have, they would have given him a public execution. Instead he was given a harsh penalty and sent to the worst of the many prisons scattered through the colony system. He did his best to be a model prisoner, but he never got a chance for an early release. On that last day when he stood before the prison doors, nothing in his hands to claim as his own, he was nervous that the guards would drag him back in, and once the doors had closed behind him, he had to suppress the urge to run away as fast and as far as his legs could take him.

"Rogelio!" An older woman dressed elegantly in black moved easily through the crowded kitchen to approach them. "Let him go."

Madame Chantal owned the restaurant, and despite Carbuncle's reputation as a fine cook, he owed his position to her. He released Duo so quickly that he had to catch his balance by seizing the edge of the worktable.

Her sparkling blue eyes swept over Duo before coming to rest on the chef. "There has been a complaint about a hair in the salad, no?" she asked, her French accent thick.

Carbuncle glared at Duo before responding. "A long hair. A very long hair among the romaine."

Madame Chantal looked beyond the hulking figure to see the romaine lettuce spread on the table over which Duo had been working. "I see. And what do you suggest that we do about it?"

"Put him on the streets," growled Carbuncle. "I've warned him over and over to ..."

She waved her hand. "Oui, oui! I know this. But we will not put one of our people on the street."

"He's not one of us," argued Carbuncle. "He's a ..."

"And what were you when I found you and gave you a chance?" she demanded of the huge man. "Did you forget what it was like to live in the gutter?"

The big man standing before the petite older woman lowered his head. "No, madame, I have not, and I am grateful to you, but ..."

"There is no but!" She dismissed him by moving past him and stopped when she stood before Duo. "Rogelio is right about something, though, my young friend. You have been warned repeatedly to cover your hair, and now you have damaged Rogelio's reputation for providing the finest meal on the colony. Instead of mocking him, you should be asking for forgiveness."

Duo looked at Carbuncle before turning back to face her. "Do I have to?"

"No. You may choose to return to the backroom."

Working on dishes in the steam-filled backroom meant few breaks, leaving the night soaked with his own sweat and being left out in sharing tips by helping in preparing the meals, but Duo couldn't bring himself to apologize. The chef had been a huge pain in his backside since he finally worked himself out of the backroom a few months ago.

Duo untied his apron, set it over the edge of the cutting table and flipped off his hairnet with his middle finger as he faced Carbuncle, then marched past the man to head to the passage to the far rear of the kitchen. He heard Carbuncle roaring to his staff to get back to work, and he was glad he wasn't in there although it meant a considerable cut in pay. The noise in the washroom was deafening and it was hard to breathe with all the steam and the stench of all manner of food being tossed into a garbage disposal. Too bad he had to lose his place in the kitchen on a night when fish was the evening special entree.

The others condemned to work in the washroom gave him a curious glance, but they probably weren't surprised that he ended up back there. His old rubber apron on which someone had used a permanent marker to draw a scythe as a joke that he didn't think was all that funny was still hanging where he had left it. Draped over it were the rubber gloves that would keep his hands from being burned off by the chemicals they used to wash the dishes so that they were completely sterilized to government specifications.

With not even a sigh of resignation, he slipped on the heavy apron, grabbed a pair of safety goggles that he fixed over his eyes, and after he pulled on his gloves, the others made room for him in the line. Working at the busiest restaurant on any location in the colony which was located across from the finest hotel and banquet center meant that they were busy all day, and when his shift finally came to an end, he was exhausted, but at least he didn't have to leave with Carbuncle glaring at him as he received his share of the tips. Now he stood in line with the other day workers to get his days' worth of colony credits.

When he came to the paymaster, he held out his card which the man took to pass under a scan before handing it back. He tucked it into his pants pocket and turned to leave only to find Madame Chantal blocking his way.

"Come to my office," she told him curtly and then turned on her high heels to march away.

Duo shoved a hand in his pocket to keep it on the card, a habit he had developed in prison lest his daily allowance would be stolen, and he followed her. He was afraid that despite her words to the contrary to Carbuncle she was going to fire him and where would that leave him? He was a convict and there were few businesses that would hire convicts although Duo sometimes wondered if they outnumbered the general population. It wasn't as if he could hide his status even if his story wasn't well known. He was the gundam pilot from their colony cluster that had been a hero and was now just a criminal. Their pride in him had crumbled to mockery, evidenced by the apron he wore to remind himself how far he had fallen.

He shut the door behind them and remained standing as she went to her desk and took out an electronic cigarette to smoke for a moment before setting it aside to look at him. Duo decided to speak first. "I'm sorry, ma'am, for breaking your trust in me."

She rolled her eyes heavenward and then met his gaze. "How many times, Duo, have I asked you to call me 'madame'?"

"Exactly? Probably two hundred and fifty-six counting just now."

The corner of her red lips lifted in a smile. "And yet you still do not."

"Sorry, ma'am, but it's not in my nature."

She put her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her clasped hands. "What am I going to do with you, Duo?" She dropped her false French accent, a necessity for the owner of a restaurant called Le Beau Papillon, and she let out a long sigh. "You can barely make enough money working in the washroom to support yourself, and with the money withdrawn for child support, you can hardly have anything left to eat."

"I grab a few things from the plates when they come in with food scraps," he admitted to her. His stomach won over his pride when he didn't have enough credit to buy himself food.

Madame Chantal screwed up her face in distaste. "No one should have to do that."

"It is what it is," he said with a shrug.

"I can't give you a raise without causing a furor in the backroom," she remarked thoughtfully, "but no one will lift a brow if I give Ellie a raise. She's as much a draw to my restaurant as Rogelio's cooking."

"You don't need to do that on my account."

She shook her head. "I've made up my mind. Don't tell her. I will discuss the matter with her when she comes to work."

"Oui, oui, madame," he said with a tug at his bangs.

He could still hear her laughing as he walked down the hall to the back door at which he paused to make sure there weren't any thugs waiting to jump him to steal his credits. There were a few unsavory characters in the shadows, but he guessed they must have heard about his demotion because they didn't challenge him for his pay. One of the sous-chefs was the object of their attentions now, and while part of Duo urged him to help the woman, that part of him was drowned out by his usually silent common sense. If he got into any trouble, he would probably get sent back to the dungeon.

So, he continued through the alley, avoiding the main street where there was usually a lot of commotion, night and day between the arrivals and departures at the hotel and the coming and going at the restaurant. If he wanted to see well-dressed people who were so far up on the social ladder that they couldn't see below themselves, he could watch the street as if there were a parade. If you had power and wealth on the colony, chances were you made your way to the wide avenue at least once a day.

He turned onto a side street and walked until he was so far away from the avenue that he couldn't see or hear it, and yet he still walked. Duo couldn't afford to waste his credits on a light-rail ride across the city, so he had to walk over a dozen blocks before he finally reached a rundown sector that still had many buildings crumbling in disrepair with damage from the war that had been over for nearly a dozen years. One might think only rats could survive in such a place, and maybe they were right, but rats had to live somewhere too.

Coming to a building that had one side still standing while the other had been blown away from some mobile suit blast, Duo used a rusty metal fire escape to climb up. The whole structure might have collapsed long ago if some entrepreneur hadn't shored up the other side before his financial backers decided there would be no profit in repair. The work stopped, and the building was left vacant until poor, displaced colonists moved in. The government collected taxes from the residents in the form of rent while being quick to point out that the residents were squatting and would not be protected if the owner returned to evict them.

Ducking through the window of an upper story apartment, Duo closed it behind him. Hearing a shower running, he headed towards the bathroom, but he paused to look into a side room that was probably an enormous walk-in closet in better days. He stood in the doorway for a moment to watch a small child sleeping on a mattress on the floor before he sighed and went to the bathroom. He stepped over scattered clothing on the floor to the glass door, ignoring the naked form blurred by steam on the door.

He pulled open the door. "Make it quick, Ellie. I want a shower before the hot water runs out for the day." Shoving the door closed, he jerked off his clothing and when she still hadn't left the shower, he opened the door and stepped inside with her. He was dismayed to find that the water was already turning cold, but he didn't have a chance to scold the woman inside because she giggled and scampered from the compartment.

Not only did the water become frigid before he finished washing, it always petered out to a trickle. Water usage in this sector was strictly rationed, and while it was usually enough to satisfy the needs of those legally living in the apartment, since Duo wasn't a legal occupant, there wasn't enough for them.

He found an already damp towel and used it to dry off before wrapping it around his waist and leaving the bathroom behind. The woman who had been in the shower was in the living room already dressed in a pair of jeans and a white button shirt. She didn't even look up at him when he came to stand near her where she finished combing out her tangled, long blond hair.

"I have to talk to you, Ellie."

She looked up, her finely shaped brows arched over her pale blue eyes. "Can it wait, Duo? If I don't hurry, I'll miss the rail into the city. You don't want me walking through the city by myself, do you?"

Curved perfectly in all the right places with looks that could stop traffic, Ellie Maxwell was not a woman that should be on the streets alone. "Of course not, but I thought I should warn you that I was demoted today."

"Demoted?" She jumped to her feet, her nostrils flaring. "Do you know how I begged to have you promoted to the kitchen?" She didn't give him a chance to respond as she grabbed her purse and shoved him out of the way. "I'm not going to be late discussing this with you. Look after Mia and don't let her stay up late. It's the least you can do since you can't provide for her!"

Ellie slammed the door shut after her, and even though she was angry at him, he had an obligation to her, so he went to the kitchen. Slipping his hand behind the refrigerator to a hole in the wall, he retrieved a handgun and went to the fire escape where he perched and raised the gun to aim in her direction. If any of the degenerates hiding in the shadows so much as breathed towards her as she headed to the rail platform that was within his sights, Duo would make it his last breath. It was fortunate that the gun had a silencer so no one would know where the shot came from. One or two men started to approach her, but the train arrived, and she quickly stepped on. Duo watched until the train pulled away, and then he climbed back into the apartment and hid the gun.

After checking to be sure that Mia was still asleep, Duo went to the bedroom he shared with Ellie to find clothing that was cleaner than what he had been wearing. He would have to do laundry. He only had three sets of clothing and they were all dirty now. The closet was stuffed with Ellie's clothes and he knew she could go for weeks without wearing the same thing twice. In addition, the clothing she wore for her work as a singer in the nightclub attached to the restaurant was kept there.

With a sigh, he went to the kitchen with an armful of his clothing, dropped it in the sink, then waited at least a half hour before he was able to fill the sink with water that came from the faucet in a trickle. Once he had enough water, he scrubbed his clothing with a little kitchen soap, took another half hour to rinse it and then draped it over the rails of the fire escape. Upon stepping back inside, he found a bleary-eyed little girl standing a few feet from the door holding a tattered teddy bear in her hand by its foot.

"I'm hungry, papa."

Duo swept her up and propped her on his hip. "Me too! Let's find something to eat."

There wasn't much in the cupboard since both Duo and Ellie took their meals at the restaurant, but he managed to find a box meal for which he had most of the ingredients. When he finished cooking the abbreviated macaroni and cheese, at least it looked like it should although a taste test proved that it was far from complete. Mia didn't seem to notice as she bent her dark head over the bowl, scooping it up to eat one spoonful after another, Teddy propped on the table beside her bowl. Duo guessed Ellie hadn't fed her that morning and he wondered how the girl survived before his release from prison. Ellie shouldn't have had the baby in the first place, but having gotten herself in the mess, she knew how to turn it to her advantage.

 _"You have a visitor, flyboy."_

 _Duo raised his brows and turned his head from watching a spider crawl across the ceiling towards a corner where it would probably spin a web. There were already two other spider webs in his cell, but he didn't mind because it kept down the population of other vermin._

 _"I have a visitor?"_

 _"You need your hearing checked?"_

 _Having encountered the penal colony's doctor once before, Duo decided death by any means was better than repeating the experience. "Who is it?"_

 _"Says she's your wife."_

 _"Wife?" Duo repeated dumbly and for one crazy moment he thought Hilde Schbeiker had come to see him. The only way they would let her in would be for her to claim to be his wife. Eager to have a chance to explain that he wasn't guilty, that someone had set him up, he hopped up from his bed and, ignoring the whistles and catcalls from the other prisoners who had gotten wind that he was on his way to a conjugal visit, he followed the guard._

 _When they reached a door, the guard unclasped the wrist cuffs, opened the door and smacked him in the middle of the back to send him stumbling into the room. The woman waiting for him was not Hilde._

 _"Duo!" She came around the side of the only piece of furniture in the room, a bed hardly big enough to accommodate two people but was probably enough space for its intended purpose._

 _"Ellie?" When she threw her arms around his neck, he was uncomfortably aware of her body pressed to his. Guys in prison didn't get soft curves against them very often._

 _She drew back to look at his face. "I heard what happened to you and I had to see you."_

 _Ellie had been among the orphans he had spent years of his childhood with. The last he had heard, she had been adopted and was living comfortably in the colony, but then that had been many years ago. A lot had happened since then, especially since someone respectable like her would come to see him in prison._

 _"You are surprised," she surmised, stepping back. She took his hand and tugged him towards the bed. "You shouldn't be. I lost everything in the war."_

 _As she told him about her family's home being destroyed and both her parents and her adopted siblings being killed, Duo held her in a comforting embrace. She finished with reading about what had happened to him in the newspaper and wanted to see him again. They had a common bond from their childhood, and even though her parents were gone, she had a good name and would use it to the best of her ability to get him out of prison._

 _The guard returned shortly after, not leaving them much time even if they were intending to have sex. He probably wanted to catch them at it and watch. She returned a week later to tell him that she was making progress in having his case re-opened, and a week after that with more information. By the end of that first month, they had become close, but it was Ellie who had initiated a more intimate relationship. He tried to resist, but he was a man and she was offering. The experience was clumsy and short, but not short enough to prevent the result. He didn't see her again for a month, so he guessed she was either in trouble or after their unpleasant encounter she didn't want to have anything more to do with him._

 _He was honestly surprised when the guard came to get him to visit his wife after over a month's absence. Duo hoped she didn't want the conjugal part of her visit because he didn't think he would be able to do it. He had enough time to realize she was more like a friend or a sister and guys didn't do what he had done with friends and especially not with sisters. Duo would be honest and tell her he didn't have those feelings for her._

 _Ellie hadn't given him a chance to speak when the guard shoved him in with his usual courtesy. "Duo, I'm pregnant!" she blurted._

 _He dropped onto the bed because his wobbly legs wouldn't support him._

 _"Don't worry about me!" she continued as she thrust out a paper to him. "I know there's nothing you can do about it, but I found a lawyer to help and all he needs is your signature."_

 _"For what?" he finally found his voice to ask._

 _She was shaking as she held out the paper. "I can claim your military benefits to take care of your child since you are incarcerated. They can't take that away from you!"_

 _Duo blinked away the moisture in his eyes, so he could see the paper she held out before him. He wasn't a genius, but he could see that he was signing away his rights to the benefits he could claim from the government if he signed the paper. There wasn't much left after a portion of the stipend was set aside to pay for his own incarceration, but the prison would be forced to share his benefits with his child._

 _"Is this legit?" he heard himself asking, still in a daze to realize that he was going to be a father._

 _Ellie stiffened, and she looked furious, but her eyes were glistening with tears and he could hear the shame in her voice. "Do you think I want this?"_

 _He didn't point out that she could have done something to prevent it, like maybe not entice him during their last visit by wearing a lowcut blouse and a tight, short skirt. But in the end, he had behaved badly, and she had probably taken pity on him. After all that she had done to try to get him out of prison, he couldn't turn his back on her._

 _"I'm sorry, Ellie," he muttered as he went to the door to rap on it._

 _The guard swung it open almost immediately so he wondered if the man had a peep hole to watch the proceedings. "What do you want, flyboy?"_

 _He requested something to write with, and after the guard produced a pen, Duo signed the document and returned it to him before looking at Ellie. She was staring at the paper, tears streaming down her cheeks._

 _"I don't think it will be much," he admitted shamefully. How could he have been so stupid?_

 _She took a breath and folded the paper. "Thank you, Duo. You didn't need to do that."_

 _They both knew that he did. Without his support, she would probably get thrown in prison, her baby taken away when it was born. The government prosecuted women that bore children with no means of providing for them. She would have been given a two-year sentence and her child – their child – would have been put in an orphanage. By the time she would have gotten out of prison, it could have been adopted off colony._

 _"Your time is up, flyboy." The guard seized his arm and dragged him to the door, but Duo refused to leave before he had a chance to ask her, "Will you bring the baby to see me?"_

 _She didn't look at him. "I don't think it would be a good idea."_

Duo didn't even know what had become of Ellie or the baby, whether they had a boy or a girl until he had walked away from the prison and found Ellie waiting for him a block away holding the hand of a little girl. Ellie informed him that she needed him to watch the child while she worked and that she managed to get him a job in the kitchens at the restaurant where she was employed. They had been living in this apartment for almost a year. There was nothing between him and Ellie even if they were in the apartment for more than five minutes together. They had never been legally married although she claimed his name, and almost every credit he made working was poured back into her account to provide Mia with whatever she needed. Even with Ellie's good-paying job and what he added, they still couldn't afford to move from this pathetic apartment and there was never enough to eat.

"That was good, papa," announced Mia, her blue eyes fixed on what remained in his own bowl.

He could use a few more bites since he hadn't had time to grab food at the restaurant, but he pushed his bowl to her. "I'm full. Maybe you can finish mine?"

As she eagerly scraped away the remains of his meal with her spoon, Duo resolved to have a talk with Ellie about feeding Mia during the day when he was at work. This wasn't the first time she had gone without, and if he didn't put his foot down, it wouldn't be the last. He was a sorry excuse for a parent and he knew it, but he could at least make sure that Mia was fed. Tomorrow he would try harder.


	3. Chapter 2

**Two**

Duo and Mia spent the evening trying to watch a program on the telecom, but the reception was poor in this sector. When they completely lost the signal, Duo gave Mia a quick bath with water he had warmed on the stove even though the power usage was going to cost extra credits. When he had her ready for bed, he lay down on the small mattress with her to sing her a song about spiders and water spouts before he told her a story he had begun for her about a princess and knights and dragons the first night he had watched over her. The story hadn't ended, would never end even though the story he had loosely based it on had come to an end. Having run out of material, he began to recount his own past in the military disguised as a medieval fairytale. Ellie had caught him telling the story once and scolded him for filling Mia's head with nonsense, but she wasn't around now so he did what he wanted.

Once she had fallen asleep, Duo rested his head by hers and pulled her close to him. He should go to the other bed, but Ellie would be home soon, and he didn't want to fight with her tonight. Even on a night when they didn't fight he was uncomfortable sleeping next to her. They were roommates and that was it. From time to time, she reached out for him in the dark, but he pushed her hands away. There wasn't anything between them but Mia and a joint effort to raise her in this rotten place.

He dozed off after resolving to apologize to Carbuncle and begging for his place back. His self-respect was well worth the extra income. Duo wanted to buy Mia toys that he hadn't found scrounging through the remains of blasted buildings that had not yet been cleared out. Duo had found Teddy in one such heap, and a few days later he managed to find the pieces of a teapot with one complete cup only marred with scratches and another that had a large chip. After Duo repaired the teapot and sanded down the chip so she wouldn't get cut on it, Mia could have a tea party with Teddy.

Hoping to find more toys for her on one of his rare days off, he returned to the place he had found the two toys and saw that it had been cordoned off with chains and a huge placard with the fire bird logo of the Phoenix Group. Construction vehicles worked on the lot, pulverizing the twisted building remnants to clear away the ugly remains of the past. That was several blocks away a couple of months ago, and since then the chains, placards and machines had slowly moved in their direction removing the bombed-out buildings. Some wealthy bastard must have oiled the machinery of the government to obtain the properties. There was nothing anybody living in those buildings could do to stop them and there would be nothing Duo could do to prevent the bulldozers from taking away their home, such as it was. He had to make more money, so he could take Mia and Ellie away from here.

There were other avenues for getting money, but Duo didn't want to get caught and sent back to the dungeon. He was still on probation and he preferred to keep it that way. Having the gun he received from Dorothy Catalonia so that she could sneak through airport security was bad enough, but he wasn't going to get caught with it. He never took it from his apartment and it made him feel more able to provide Ellie and Mia with protection. Ellie didn't know about the gun, nor about his encounter with the rich socialite. She would have insisted he demand money to help her, but Duo wouldn't consider asking for money after the story she had told him and why she was on the run from Quatre Winner. They might both be richer than anyone had a right to be, but they were a man and a woman with a messed-up life that Duo sympathized with. His own life had been screwed to hell because somebody from his past had decided he didn't deserve a future. According to a news report he had chanced upon, Quatre had found Dorothy anyway, knowing her, probably after a merry chase that Duo was proud to claim some small part of. At least they had solved their problems.

A noise at the door woke him in the early hours of the morning, and checking the time on his watch, he noted that he would have to get up soon anyway to be at work in time for the breakfast crowd. Duo carefully left the nearly flat mattress on the floor after tucking the blanket around Mia so that she wouldn't get cold.

Barefoot, he padded out to the living room where he found Ellie closing the door. "You're late," he pointed out when she turned around after sliding home the bolt on the door.

She gasped in surprise and fell back against the door. "You startled me! Have you been waiting up?"

Duo pointed out the faint light from the sunlight being allowed into the colony. "I've been to sleep and woke up. I have to get ready for work."

"I had a good night in tips," she pointed out. And then as if she couldn't hold back, she blurted out, "I met the most amazing man! After my shift was over, he was waiting for me and..."

"You went with a guy after your shift?" Duo was appalled that she would put her life in danger by going with a man she didn't know.

She ignored his outburst and dragged him to the rundown couch he had salvaged from the rubble of the building in which they lived. Pulling him down, she started talking about her night. "He was very attentive during my first set, and he stayed to watch the second and even requested a song for which he gave me an enormous tip. We went out for coffee after I was done for the night, and before you get all riled up, Madame Chantal sent a couple of men to follow in case I needed help."

That made him feel a little better, but he still didn't like that she had left with a strange man. "What's his name?"

"Robert," she told him. "Robert Cameron. He's an investment banker."

That meant money, something they were in short supply of. "If he's such a big tipper, maybe you could step out and buy something edible for Mia."

Ellie shook her head, blond waves bouncing on her shoulders. "I agreed to meet him tomorrow – today - for lunch, so I have to get something nice to wear."

"What about Mia?" he asked, annoyed that she was going to buy more clothing. Pointing out that she had plenty to wear already wasn't going to change her mind about shopping. "You can't just leave her here by herself!"

Her forehead wrinkled in thought as she frowned, and then she said, "You can tell Madame Chantal that you aren't feeling good and come back to watch her while I shop and have lunch with him."

Duo felt sick to his stomach to have to do as she suggested, but if he didn't, he knew damn well that Ellie wouldn't think twice about leaving Mia locked in her room. She hadn't admitted to doing it before, but he suspected she had done so many times while he was in prison and probably many times since when he was working. "I'll go in and tell her the situation."

"Just tell her that you are sick!" Ellie rolled her eyes. "Everyone else does it all the time."

"I can't afford to," he reminded her.

Ellie dismissed his efforts as useless even though now that he was out of prison, the entirety of his military pension was sent to her for Mia. She claimed that she needed most of it for rent and Duo didn't have the courage to demand an accounting. He imagined her calling the colony police to tell them that he was abusing her because the authorities would toss him back in the dungeon and he would never get out again. If he had only himself to worry about he wouldn't care, but he didn't know what would become of Mia if he left her in Ellie's hands. Since the day she had brought him back here, she had made it clear that she expected him to take care of their daughter and that she was done with the chore. Through Mia he was her cash cow, but if she found someone else that could provide for her, she would either let him and Mia off the hook or have him tossed back into prison after dropping Mia off at one of the many orphanages on the colony. Duo wondered how he could have ever imagined kindness in her those first few weeks she had come to see him in prison.

"Then don't do it, but I'm not bringing Mia with me on my lunch date. I don't want to scare off a prospective suitor."

"Did you tell him that you are married?" he asked with annoyance. There was no way around asking for time off, but he wasn't going to lie to Madame Chantal.

Ellie made a sound of annoyance. "We aren't married."

"You claimed we were married on government documents," he reminded her.

She shrugged. "I'll tell them it was your idea."

Furious, he grabbed his socks and boots and left the apartment through the window, not stopping to cover his feet until he reached the bottom. He'd gladly go back to prison just to escape from Ellie if it weren't for Mia. How could he be so stupid? His life was even more ruined now than when he left prison after receiving a shaming tattoo across his wrists with the symbols that would mark him as a criminal for the rest of his life. No matter where he went, scanners identified him, his crimes and where he had been incarcerated in case he needed to be returned, like a lost dog.

By the time he had stomped across the city, the sun had risen along with the shields that protected the colony from its harmful rays. A few men and women greeted Duo upon his arrival in the backroom of Le Beau Papillon, but he did no more than return their greetings as he made his way to Madame Chantal's office. The door was partially open, so after a brief rap to announce himself he entered to find that she was not alone.

Carbuncle was hunched over as they discussed the daily menu lying on her desk between them. When they became aware of his presence, Carbuncle frowned as Madame Chantal raised her brows curiously.

"What are you doing here, Maxwell? Came to find me to beg for your job back in the kitchen?"

Duo swallowed a lump of humiliation that had crept up his throat because that is exactly what he had planned to do. Instead he ignored him to look at Madame Chantal. "I have a favor to ask you."

"You don't get any favors around here," barked the chef, rising to his feet.

"Rogelio, take the menu to the printer while I speak to Duo."

The huge man swiped up the papers and glared at him before he marched from the room. When he was gone, Duo turned his attention back to Madame Chantal. "I'm sorry, but I can't work today."

She waved him to sit in a chair across from her. "You can't get any income if you don't work, Duo."

"I know that, but I don't have a choice." He went on to tell her about the exchange he had with Ellie and he could see that Madame Chantal was as unhappy about her plans as Duo, but when he finished, she nodded her head in understanding.

"I wouldn't dream of making you work with you worried sick about your child's safety. You may go back to spend the day with her." She pulled open her desk drawer and he was afraid she would offer him credits, but she handed him two shiny, hologram tickets. "A customer gave these to me last night and I wondered what I would do with them."

Duo saw they were tickets to the circus, and not just any circus, but the most famous show in the colonies. "I ... I can't take these! They must be worth a fortune!"

"They were free, Duo. If you want to sell them, go ahead, but I think you can come up with a better use for them. I'll call the kitchen to have them prepare you a meal for the morning and afternoon, and maybe tomorrow you will be rested up enough to get back to work."

Clutching the tickets in his hand, he bowed to her and she was already on the intercom ordering his meals before he rose. He carefully put the tickets in his pants pocket before heading to the kitchen. There was no way he would ever be able to repay her for her generosity except by doing the best he could at work. He would beg Carbuncle for his old job tomorrow, and if he didn't get it, he would content himself with washing dishes and scraping out pots and pans.

By the time he returned to the apartment with the food boxes tucked under his arm, Ellie was already gone, and Mia was locked in her closet with a chair propped against the door handle. When he opened the door, he found Mia pretending to pour tea for Teddy, and she looked up to smile at him brightly.

"Do you want to join us, Papa? We are having tarts with our tea."

"How about you join me," he suggested. "And bring Teddy," he added. "I think he will enjoy breakfast."

"We're having breakfast?" Mia shrieked with delight, but she pushed aside her precious toys carefully before following Duo to the table that had only two chairs. She placed Teddy in a seated position on the table before she sat across from the chair Duo would occupy. She watched him with silent anticipation as he placed two plates and two cups on the table along with spoons and forks before opening the box to reveal two sinfully large strawberry pastries along with a generous helping of scrambled eggs and ham.

Despite her obvious hunger as she stared at the food, she did not touch anything until Duo had served himself and filled their cups with orange juice that had been included in the box in a large, covered cup. When he finally sat down, he looked across at her. "Don't eat the pastry first. Save it for after you have eaten all your eggs and ham. If you're too full, you can save some for later."

She shook her head, strands of her hair falling into her eyes. "The big mice will eat it."

Rats! Duo had heard that some of the other residences in the broken tower had them, but he didn't think they did. "They don't bite you, do they?" If they did, he would go on a rampage to find every last one to tear its guts out.

"They are afraid of Teddy," she told him.

More than likely they didn't show up often because there was rarely food in the apartment. "Then eat it up now. We can have a picnic later."

"A picnic? Like the picnic you told me about in the story when the dragon attacked?"

Mia had never gone on a picnic, had probably never even seen the side of the colony where she might see grass. There was nothing in this sector but wires, rubble and filth, and a lot of men and women with tattoos on their wrists. Duo intended that she would never forget this day.

"Yeah, a picnic just like that, and I have a surprise for you. Instead of your afternoon nap, we are going to a circus." He dug the tickets from his pants pocket to show her, and when she wanted to touch them, he was nervous that she might smudge the coding on the ticket, but she was very careful in handling it. Duo hoped they could keep the cancelled stub, so she could always have a keepsake of this day. He had no illusions about his future. When Ellie had no more need for him, she would cut him out of her life one way or another.

The meal took longer than usual because Mia wanted to know everything he could possibly tell her about a circus, and fortunately he had seen this circus perform so he had plenty to tell her. After she finished eating everything he had put before her, Duo washed her up and found her some clean clothing, the outfit she wore when Ellie paraded her before child protection services to prove that she was not a neglectful mother. He combed her hair and put it into a braid that hung just past her shoulders. Her hair might have been longer, but shortly before his release from prison, Ellie had cut off her hair when Mia was infected with lice from the children of the woman who was watching her when she was working. Duo had been glad the lice were cleared out before he came to live with them because he had his own share of fighting off such vermin in prison. When he finished braiding, he tore a scrap of cloth from the hem of his shirt to tie it off before he tucked it into his pants and led her out of the apartment which was little more than her prison.

He prayed that he had enough credits on his card to pay for the round-trip fare to the other side of the colony, and someone on high had been listening because the woman who handed him his tickets didn't accuse him of trying to steal a ride on the rail. She did, however, glance briefly at his wrists, but she didn't react, most likely because there were few people in this sector who weren't convicts. Duo didn't appreciate the pitying glance she gave Mia, but Mia didn't notice as she looked around with awe at their surroundings even though they could see the station from the window of their apartment.

Duo held her hand tightly as they waited for the train, and when it pulled into the station, Mia whimpered, clutching Teddy close as the noise overwhelmed her. He scooped her up to prop on his hip, then boarded the train after showing his ticket to a distrusting rail employee. He sat with Mia on his lap although he had paid for a seat for her. She was nervous about all the activity and the strange faces of men, women and children already sitting on the car as well as others who had boarded with them. When the train moved forward, she whimpered again, so Duo held her tight until she settled with her small cheek pressed to his chest. Soon a combination of her full belly and the movements of the train put her to sleep.

All those years in prison he had only thought of his child abstractly. There wasn't even any way for him to know if Ellie had the baby, so he tried not to think about it. But when he finally met Mia, he had fallen in love with his daughter. If he could help it, no one was ever going to hurt her and that included her own mother. Making that a vow would be useless when his freedom seemed to hinge on Ellie's whim. He might be better off walking away from both, but he couldn't leave Mia now.

After nearly an hour on the train, they came to their stop, so he gently woke her after most of the passengers had already left the car. She was disoriented for several minutes and looked around curiously as he showed his ticket again on the way out. Once he stepped onto the platform, it was as if they were in a different world. Gone were the crumbling husks of once beautiful high-rises. They had come to a lush, green park that took up more area than the sector where they lived. There were rolling green hills curtesy of artificial turf that felt life-like and trees that did not change year-round, some with leaves, others with blossoms. The wealthy citizens of the colony had pooled their resources after the war to make this beautiful space, but Duo knew that if he didn't have the hologram tickets, people like him wouldn't be allowed to enjoy it.

Further on he could see the enormous circus tent and pointed it out to Mia who was excited to see the billowing colorful cloth to which a river of people was flowing. They were early enough to get settled and watch the pre-show antics of the clowns, but the walk was long and even though Mia wanted to tread on the grass, Duo pulled her up to ride on her shoulders which she liked even better. Since the tickets included snacks and souvenirs, Duo got some cotton candy, popcorn and a balloon for Mia before they entered the big tent.

Inundated by the sights and sounds, Mia was nearly overwhelmed when the clowns rushed into the arena, wearing bright colors and honking horns that made her cover her ears. She squealed with laughter as she watched their antics, but Duo watched her, deciding that he would imprint this memory forever so that when he was in prison again, he would have something to think about, no matter how much pain it gave him. She loved every moment of what she saw, and her emotions ran from joy at watching the clowns to fear when the acrobats performed in the death-defying heights of the tent.

Duo recognized one of the performers, not just from his makeup, but from the feats he performed in the air. Duo wanted to talk to Trowa Barton – Triton Bloom – but he wasn't eager for him to see what had become of him. But he couldn't leave without at least greeting him after all they had gone through in the wars, so when the show finally ended, he brought Mia close to him on his hip and went to the stage door to find out if he could see him. The huge clown guarding the door viewed him skeptically as he approached, probably not realizing how ridiculous it appeared to have a clown acting as a bouncer.

"Do you think I could get a few words with one of your performers? His name is Triton Bloom." Duo shifted nervously as the clown stared at him without blinking for a moment before he remembered to give his own name. "Tell him Duo Maxwell is here."

Before the clown could open the curtains to the back area where the performers prepared, a man stepped out and Duo was surprised to find himself wrapped in a hug. He hadn't felt such close human contact with anyone except Mia for a long time, so it caught him off guard. He heard Mia giggle and Duo saw that there was face paint smeared on her, so he could imagine how he looked.

"Duo Maxwell! I was hoping that I would see you when the circus manager booked the show here. In fact, if you hadn't come to me, I would have looked you up."

Duo was confident that the other man wouldn't have found him. His own parole officer didn't know where he lived, but the man was so inundated with convicts to track that he was just happy that Duo reported in regularly. One year down with Vince Baxter, four left to go.

"I didn't know if you would see me," he said lamely.

"Why not?" Triton looked at the girl he was holding. "Are you babysitting?"

Duo chuckled. "I don't think they call it babysitting when it's your own kid."

"Is that so? What a cutie!" Triton brushed under her chin and produced a small bouquet of daisies that he presented to Mia who gasped in surprise as she accepted them and raised them to her face. "I didn't know you were married."

Duo didn't admit that he wasn't because he didn't want it getting back to the authorities who might arrest both him and Ellie. "Well, stuff happens. This is my daughter, Mia. Her mother and I have known each other since we ran the streets together as children. We hooked up together shortly before my arrest and, well, you know the rest."

"Unfortunate," he remarked as he put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "They shouldn't have treated you that way after all that you have done to protect this colony."

"That's in the past now." Duo didn't want to talk about himself. "How have you been? Busy, I'll bet, as an international star."

"I'm hardly the star of the show, but I do what I can to entertain people. It's better than what I was doing before."

Blasting holes through mobile suits and buildings, killing and maiming as indiscriminately as Duo had done in the war. Neither of them really had much choice in the matter. Triton had lost his memory and didn't know any better, but Duo knew better and didn't care what destruction he caused if he could get revenge for what had done for the only people that had tried to give him a home.

"Why don't I change, and you can show me around? There's a great place I can get reservations for across from my hotel, Le Beau Papillon."

"I've heard of it," Duo told him, preferring that he not know how well acquainted he was with the restaurant. "And I wish I could take you up on your offer, but I can't leave Mia alone."

"Bring her to the hotel and I'll hire a nanny to watch her."

Mia had watched and listened to the exchange and he felt her fingers clutching at his shirt. "Maybe another time, Triton. Besides, you might get me hammered and that's a no-no on probation and the hangover I would have tomorrow wouldn't be doing me any favors. I already missed work to come here." He didn't tell him that Mia was afraid of strangers. Ellie wouldn't tell him why, but the mere mention of a nanny had the power to frighten her.

Triton gave him another hug. "I'll be here for a few weeks, so if you change your mind, you know where to find me." He chucked Mia under the chin and ducked back through the opening of the tent. The guard clown didn't have to grunt at Duo to get him to move along. He was already feeling anxious for contacting Triton Bloom after he had worked hard to keep himself under the radar.

After getting a stuffed elephant as a souvenir, Duo led Mia to a blossoming tree far enough from others so that she wouldn't be nervous, and he opened the other box he had received from the restaurant. There were sandwiches and bottles of water, and after they ate their meal, Duo laid on his back with Mia to point at the clouds, encouraging her to guess a shape. After the third pass of the same clouds from the computer-generated image, he told her reluctantly that they should return to the train. With her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly, hiding her face in his shoulder as he kept her soft friends tucked between them. They didn't have long to wait before the train arrived, and he regretted that the day was ending. He hoped this wouldn't be the best memory she ever had, but he was afraid it would be.

On the way back to the sector, Duo worried that he had made a mistake in talking to the former gundam pilot. At least he had an opportunity to connect with his past, and Triton didn't judge him. Duo didn't look back on those days as glorious, but he wasn't ashamed either. He had shared an experience with the gundam pilots that he would never forget. But sitting on the train with Mia dozing peacefully after gorging herself on cotton candy and popcorn, holding her close as the sun set, he knew he would gladly trade those memories for just these precious moments with his daughter.


	4. Chapter 3

**Three**

"May I interest you in an aperitif, madame?"

"Don't be coy with me, Jacques. You know I want a vodka."

"Mother!" Hilde felt her cheeks heating as she looked helplessly at the waiter whose brows were raised. This was even too early for her mother to be drinking in public.

"Bring my daughter the same," Ingrid Schbeiker said with a challenging look that she directed at both her daughter and the waiter.

"Oui, madame." The young man bowed and left to fill her order, and Hilde noticed that her mother watched him until he was out of sight. When he had disappeared into another part of the restaurant, she sighed and turned back to see the disgust that Hilde couldn't hide.

"Is there something wrong, my dear?"

Hilde picked up the menu without answering, but her head was throbbing painfully, and she couldn't make out the words, so she lowered it to find her mother waiting for an answer. "There is nothing wrong."

She wished that would be the end of the discussion, but her mother remarked, "Your father might be dead and consigned to ashes, but I'm very much alive."

"I'm not disputing your right to see other men," Hilde began, but her mother cut her off.

"You're disputing which sort of men I might see."

Her mother did more than see the young men she invited to her home, some spending weeks enjoying all the hospitality that her father's wealth could provide. Hilde was glad she had her own apartment in the commercial district, an apartment that had been up to her mother's exacting standards in case she deigned to visit her. She would rather not watch Ingrid entertaining men half her age.

"Why did you call me to lunch?" demanded Hilde with annoyance.

Before her mother could answer, a woman dressed in black approached the table. "Madame Schbeiker! How delighted I am to see you in my restaurant."

"Good afternoon, Madame Chantal," Hilde said politely although her mother looked at the owner of the finest restaurant on the colony, if not on all the colonies, as if she were lower than the dirt under her heels, that is if any dirt dared stick to Ingrid Schbeiker's heels.

The other woman nodded to her. "Mademoiselle Schbeiker, I hear that congratulations are in order."

Hilde didn't show her surprise although her mother snapped her head to look at her. Madame Chantal seemed to know everything before it happened, and since the ink had barely dried on the paper contracts her client had signed, Hilde suspected that the other woman had contacts in the government filing offices.

"What is she talking about?" demanded Ingrid.

Before Hilde could answer, Madame Chantal said, "Your daughter managed to persuade the owner of the last few properties in Sector 13 to sell his holdings to the Phoenix Group."

"Sector 13?" Ingrid's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Isn't that the awful mess on the far side of the city?"

"It used to be a delightful place to live," said Madame Chantal. Hilde hadn't known much about that part of the colony except that a ferocious mobile suit battle had occurred in the sector in the early years of the war. Since beginning her work for the Phoenix Group, she had discovered that many successful young families with diverse ethnic backgrounds had built a thriving community there. In less than twenty-four hours their lives had been destroyed in a horrific battle.

"How did you manage to escape?" asked her mother with a sneer.

"I wasn't there when the fighting started."

"Had a premonition and fled like a rat?"

"Mother!" Hilde was appalled.

The other woman laughed, the sound brittle and humorless. "Your mother and I are old friends."

"Old enough to remember when you didn't have that atrocious accent, when you were just poor Fiona Malone. Your Irish affectation is hardly any better than your French even though you were born in raised among them." She looked past Madame Chantal. "Jacques, stop standing around waiting for an invitation. I want that drink."

The waiter moved around his employer and delivered one delicate glass of clear liquid garnished with a couple of olives skewered with toothpicks. About to go around the table to set the other glass before Hilde who had decided she was glad her mother had ordered the drink for her because she could use it, Ingrid put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"That will be wasted on my daughter. Leave it with me and get her a glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice. That way she'll have an excuse other than her prudish sensibilities to purse her lips."

Jacques set the glass before Hilde's mother, but he looked at Madame Chantal, probably wondering if he should do as the customer asked when it was a clear insult.

"Bring Mademoiselle Schbeiker a glass of champagne. She has a reason to celebrate." The elegant woman looked at the empty chair. "Do you mind if I join you for a moment or two?"

Ingrid took a long sip from her glass, nearly draining it before she said, "I can't stop you since you own the place."

Another waiter hurried to pull out the chair for Madame Chantal, then left to get her a refreshment. After a brief glance at Ingrid, she turned her full attention to Hilde. "Will the Phoenix Group make alternate living arrangements for the people living in the buildings on their new properties?"

Hilde knew that there were almost a hundred families living where ever they could find stable lodgings scattered over the property, most in a tower that had been reinforced before the owner ran out of funding. The owner assured her before signing the contracts that the government had already agreed to find them public housing.

"They will be taken care of." Hilde wished now that she had been more adamant in demanding an affidavit regarding people who might suddenly find themselves without a home. But her client had pushed to close the deal, so she let the matter drop.

"How, exactly?" pressed the other woman.

"What is your interest in the wreck?" asked Ingrid, already halfway through the second glass of vodka. Hilde hoped they could get through lunch before her mother became too inebriated to stand.

Madame Chantal glanced briefly at Ingrid before looking at Hilde. "Several of my employees live there and I am concerned that they will no longer have a place to live when the Phoenix Group knocks down the only place they can call home."

"Why don't you pay them enough to afford a better place?" asked Ingrid snidely.

"Mother! Madame Chantal already pays the highest employment rate on the colony, but the government taxes both her and her employees until there is barely anything left. The Restoration Tax levied in this sector is outrageously high."

Ingrid sniffed. "They can't expect the rest of us to pay for the repairs to their communities." Hilde hated that her mother had no empathy for people less fortunate than herself.

"There is little extra housing," pointed out Madame Chantal. "I, myself, sleep in a set of small rooms above the restaurant. What housing is constructed is geared towards attracting wealthy residents from Earth or other colonies. If the government doesn't do something soon, workers will not be able to live on the colony, and where will that leave us?"

"There will always be workers," snorted Ingrid derisively. "They are like roaches, living in filth and creeping out of the dark to find sustenance. They'll live on the street if they have to because they can't afford to leave the colony."

Hilde was so shocked by her mother's comment that she lowered her head in shame rather than try to moderate her words or behavior. She didn't know exactly when her mother became this crass human being, but her downward spiral had begun before her father's death and Hilde's subsequent depression. She had never been particularly close to her mother, but she no longer recognized the woman she had become.

"I see that your guests have arrived." Madame Chantal rose from the chair and Hilde watched her move away to greet a group of men and one woman. Hilde looked at her mother to see that she had finished her second drink and was signaling for Jacques to return. He quickly stepped forward and had her empty glasses whisked away before their luncheon guests arrived.

Many of the patrons were looking in their direction because it wasn't every day that Judge Werner Richter, the leading candidate to be chosen to replace the retiring colony governor, dined in public with his lovely wife, Lina, sole heir to the Jaeger aerospace fortune. Accompanying him were his protege, Andreas Becker along with his campaign manager, Karl Vogel. The men greeted the women by kissing their hands while the women gave each other polite hugs. Hilde had known the powerful Richter family her whole life since her father had been a partner in Werner Richter's law firm. Hilde had spent a lot of time in the Richter mansion when her father was working cases with him, so she got to know his wife as well. Looking back, Hilde felt more affection from Lina Jaeger than she ever did her own mother, but then Lina had a lot of affection to transfer since she had never been able to have children of her own. After all that had happened to her after returning from the war, Lina was the only person Hilde could turn to for comfort.

She now hugged Hilde warmly, but leaned in to whisper, "Forbearance, child."

Werner sat between Ingrid and Lina while Andreas and Kurt flanked Hilde. As the elders made small talk, Hilde turned to look at Andreas who was watching her with a smile that made the heat rise to her cheeks. "I haven't seen you in a few days," she remarked.

He clasped her hand under the table. "A situation I intend to rectify tonight. I know you have something to celebrate, so I'd like to take you out."

As she was deciding if she had time to spare, she noticed everyone watching her expectantly and became flustered. Were they in on something?

"You need a break," said Werner, swirling a glass of amber liquid in his hand. "You have been busy negotiating for the Phoenix Group, and now that you have succeeded on their behalf, you should take some time to enjoy yourself."

Hilde didn't want to point out that she had a couple of pro bono cases to work on because nobody at the table approved of her charitable work. In their eyes she was a corporate lawyer on the fast track to a political career. Kurt had even remarked that with her military background, she could be elected without trying. Hilde didn't feel up to having her past brought into the limelight by the press when there were still some issues she had yet to come to terms with.

Sitting next to Andreas, Hilde didn't want to have any thoughts of Duo Maxwell, but every day something reminded her of him and of what they could have had if he hadn't thrown it all away. To distract herself now, she looked at Andreas whose blond head was bent to listen to something Lina was telling him. He had recently returned from a business trip to Earth where he spent several days in the tropics and picked up an enviable tan. Although it was fading, Hilde could still see it and it made him more attractive than he already was. Even now she noticed women watching him when their lunch dates were not paying attention to them, and whole groups of women openly ogled him. At his campaign speeches the audiences were probably more than two-thirds women, but men were just as enthralled with him because he was the man they wanted to be. Intelligent, athletic, attractive, he was even blessed with a friendly nature that drew people towards him.

There was little doubt he would win the election against his opponent, a middle-aged man who railed against the government's policies in the outer sectors. Andreas ran on a platform that called for cleaning out the crime that had infested the colony since the end of the war. He already had an impressive record of prosecutions that took many dangerous criminals off the street. If the colony police were overzealous, it was worth it to put an end to the high murder rate and the rampant drug use that spawned robbery and prostitution. Andreas' opponent, Hannibal Grey, accused the Teutonic community of carrying out ethnic cleansing by driving entire neighborhoods either off the colony or into prisons. If he hadn't started spouting conspiracy theories that Teuton leaders had caused the destruction of Sector 13 where the non-Teuton society had flourished before the war, Hilde might have taken him seriously. After his announcement in which he claimed to have evidence, Hilde thought he was a raving lunatic, especially after his witnesses never surfaced. He was just a man who had lost everything and needed someone to blame.

Under the table, Andreas squeezed her hand because Hilde must have drifted off in thought. When she smiled at him, she caught the approving look that Werner and Lina exchanged while her mother smirked before signaling for Jacques to return to the table. Werner ordered a round of champagne, and once everyone at the table had a delicate crystal glass filled with the bubbly, amber liquid, he stood and raised his own to Hilde.

"Otto and I were friends all the way through law school, and I know that he would be proud of you this day, Hilde. I think of you as the daughter I never had, and I know that I am very proud of you. Because of your efforts, we, the settlers of this colony, will be able to put an ugly past behind us with the help of the Phoenix Group."

Hilde was embarrassed by the attention, especially when diners nearby clapped, but she nodded in thanks, drank her champagne quickly and excused herself to the powder room. Once she reached the elegantly decorated compartment, she fumbled in her purse for an anti-anxiety pill, placed it on her tongue and with a shaky hand she poured water into a glass and swallowed it, nearly choking on the pill. When she was finished, she clutched the edges of the vanity and stared into the mirror of the low-lighted room. The woman that stared back didn't look anything like the young woman who had bravely gone to fight for what she believed in. During the war, even those beliefs had been turned around so that she didn't know what was right and what was wrong.

Her parents had been against her enlistment, but she refused to listen to them. Like many others on the colony, she wanted revenge for the war that had come to their doorstep, and like many others she had been drawn to OZ because she had naively believed that they would help the colonies in the fight for independence from Earth. And like everyone else, she came to realize that they were all dupes of the Romefeller Foundation. She learned before everyone else with the help of a smooth-talking mobile suit pilot that she couldn't get out of her thoughts.

 _Panting, Hilde flopped onto her back and turned her head to the side to find that Duo was looking at her, his smile making her shiver even after what they had just done._

 _"Are you sure we have to have dinner with your parents?"_

 _She turned on her side and reached out to put her hand on his cheek. "We've waited long enough. You didn't want to meet them until you were on your feet, and now your business is thriving, so you have no excuse to put it off."_

 _Duo turned to face her, and slipping his arm around her waist, he dragged her against his naked body. They were both hot and sweaty now after a touch and a look when they had been working had them scrambling for the bed in the middle of the afternoon. She didn't even remember who had the wherewithal to activate the sign on the salvage business indicating that they were out. The sex had been explosive and satisfying, and when he ran his hand down her back now with a gentle caress, she knew they weren't done._

 _Lowering his head, he looked into her eyes. "Call them and tell them that I got a big order and won't be available until the job is done."_

 _Hilde smiled as she put her arms around his neck and pressed the length of her body against his. "I'm not going to do that, Duo. They're expecting us this evening and if we don't show up, there is no way my parents will forgive us."_

 _"I'm fine with that."_

 _He tried to kiss her, but she moved her head and he ended up kissing her neck. "I'm not fine with that." He was making a trail of kisses down to her breasts, but she grabbed a handful of his thick braid to stop him and he raised his eyes to look at her. "We are going, Duo, and that is final."_

 _"We don't have to get ready yet, do we?"_

 _Hilde couldn't resist the smoldering look in his deep blue eyes, so she released his braid. "Maybe we have a little time."_

 _Duo pushed her onto her back. "Whatever you want, princess."_

 _They ended up using a lot of time and arriving at her parents' home over an hour after the time they agreed upon for dinner. Duo looked with wide-eyed awe at the Schbeiker mansion set a few blocks back from the main thoroughfare of the city and surrounded by a security gate to which Hilde knew the code. The cobbled drive to the enormous house was an extravagance that even few Teuton families could afford, but her father was a successful attorney whose legal services were sought all over the colonies and Earth, so her mother spared no expense in creating a showcase home._

 _Before they came to the enormous front door, Duo rubbed his palms on his black pants nervously. "I think I'm underdressed."_

 _She swept a glance over the black shirt tucked in his pants, boots that he had polished for the occasion and the black tie that she now reached up to straighten. "You look fine."_

 _He enclosed her fingers with his own warm, strong hands. "I don't want to embarrass you, Hilde. You know how I feel."_

 _"Do I?" she teased. Hilde sensed that he loved her, but he had never said as much._

 _He put a hand on her cheek and she caught her breath at the intensity in his eyes. "Hilde, I ..."_

 _The door suddenly opened, startling them apart to face the family butler. "Welcome home, Miss Hilde."_

 _Hilde was sure her cheeks were flaming, and she could see that Duo was flustered by the interruption. "Helmut! It is good to see you. Please don't tell me that my parents waited for us to eat."_

 _The older man leaned down to whisper, "Your mother insisted that they wait although your father declared that if you couldn't make it to the table on time, you could go without food."_

 _She noticed that Duo looked startled and even more intimidated than he had before. "Are they in the drawing room?"_

 _"I will announce you."_

 _As they followed the butler, Duo leaned down to ask, "What's a drawing room?"_

 _"A fancy big room with an enormous fireplace and uncomfortable furniture where Helmut takes guests to meet the family," she told him, and she heard Helmut chuckle at her description._

 _Before she had a chance to reassure Duo, Helmut swung open the doors to the drawing room and announced their arrival. Her father was standing near the fireplace, a tall glass of amber liquid half-filled, and he had been contemplating the fire, but he raised his head to look at them._

 _She expected him to greet them, but instead he said gruffly, "Let's eat." He marched past them without even looking at either her or Duo. Nor had he offered his arm to her mother who was sitting on a satin-covered settee facing the fire. Helmut moved forward to take a glass from her hand and he offered his arm and her mother did not refuse, but she tapped his arm to stop when they had drawn even with Hilde and Duo. Her green eyes took in Duo from top to bottom before she looked at Hilde._

 _"I have heard that a turn in the military improves punctuality, but in you it seems to have had the opposite effect."_

 _"Mother, I'm sorry..."_

 _But she turned her perfectly made up face and tapped Helmut's arm. "Take me to the dining hall and order the chef to serve the meal."_

 _Duo started to follow, but Hilde stopped him, knowing that her mother disliked having anyone less than four paces behind her. She counted, one pace, two paces, three paces, four paces, and then she hooked her arm around Duo's and led him forward._

Although it would ruin her make-up, Hilde turned on the water again and carefully splashed her face so that she did not get her silk business suit wet, and when she felt the familiar euphoria that signaled her medication taking effect, she used a towel lying near the sink to dry herself. After powdering her face, she reapplied her lipstick and left the powder room.

Hilde made the turn to head back to the table, but something caught her attention in the opposite direction and she watched as a man wearing a rubber apron and gloves carried a tray full of dishes pushed through a swinging door, a long braid hanging down the length of his back.

Unable to believe her eyes, Hilde blinked rapidly, and before she could stop herself, she walked in the direction that the man had disappeared. She had almost made it to the door, but Madame Chantal suddenly came from within and she almost ran into her.

"Mademoiselle Schbeiker!" Her hand flew to her chest in startled surprise. "What are you doing back here?"

Hilde tried to look past her through the round window in the door, but it was steamed up and prevented her from seeing anything. "What is that way?"

"The workroom where the dishes are cleaned." Madame Chantal put her arm around Hilde's and gently turned her in the opposite direction. "It is a hot, steamy, and very smelly place. You do not want to go there."

"I ... I thought I saw someone I knew go back there." She met Madame Chantal's eyes. "Does ... does Duo Maxwell work here?"

"Duo Maxwell?" Madame Chantal furrowed her brows.

"You know who he is! He was a gundam pilot." Hilde thought the other woman was being deliberately obtuse but didn't understand why.

"Ah oui! I remember now. He was put in prison." Madame Chantal laughed softly. "Do you think I would employ convicts in my establishment? Non, non!"

She hadn't realized that the other woman had steered her back to the table until Andreas stood and came to slip an arm around her waist to guide her back to her chair.

"You look dreadful," remarked her mother.

Lina Richter frowned at Ingrid before leaning across Andreas to speak to her. "You have had a busy day. Perhaps Andreas should take you back to your apartment so that you can get some rest."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Andreas as he stood again and took Hilde's arm to draw her up with him. "Kurt, can you clear my afternoon?"

His campaign manager nodded. "You have a meeting that I can reschedule." He gave Hilde a concerned look. "You have been overworking yourself lately on behalf of the Phoenix Group. I think you need some rest."

"You may be right." Hilde did feel worn out after the stress of the last few months, and that was probably why she imagined seeing Duo. She didn't know what had become of him, but he wouldn't be washing dishes at Le Beau Papillon.

After making their good-byes, Andreas escorted Hilde through the restaurant, pausing occasionally to say a few words to his supporters, and she was relieved when they finally stepped onto the street where a limousine was waiting. The chauffeur opened the door for them and Andreas helped her in. After giving the driver directions, he joined her.

As soon as the car was on its way, Andreas slipped his arm around her and pulled her to him. "I didn't think we would ever get away from there. That was a devious maneuver, Hilde Schbeiker."

Hilde tried to push him away, but there was no stopping Andreas when he had his mind set on what he wanted. His lips were hard on hers, and his tongue in her mouth was an intrusion she thought would make her sick.

For once sensing her disinterest, he raised his head to look down at her. "You really don't feel well?"

She tried to smile. "I've been under a lot of stress. Maybe I should just go back to my apartment to rest."

He put his hand on her bare knee and slid it up under her skirt. "I know just what you need."

Hilde reached for his wrist, but he refused to relent, so she tried to relax as his fingers skimmed over her thighs parting them as they moved higher. She didn't want this, but if she didn't cooperate, Andreas might become frustrated and he made her nervous when he lost his temper. So she squeezed her eyes shut and grasped for anything that would make her enjoy what he was doing to her. She thought of the man she had seen in the restaurant, and that led to memories of Duo that made this experience easier to bear.

"I knew you would enjoy this." Andreas' hot breath in her ear brought her crashing back to reality to find her skirt bunched around her hips with Andreas settling between her thighs.

What happened next was all for his benefit, and Hilde pretended to enjoy it while wishing he hadn't disturbed her fantasy before its conclusion. His deep groan in her ear made relief flood through her that the ordeal was over, and she didn't look at him when he rolled back to sit beside her. As he pulled up his pants and fastened them, Hilde put her own clothing to rights, and when he draped his arm over her shoulder, she shuddered. They had been seeing each other for three years, and she kept hoping the sex would improve, but she couldn't feel anything with him unless she imagined she were elsewhere with another man.

He smiled, assuming she was still feeling pleasure from what they had done. "I think we'll enjoy the afternoon," he remarked as he sifted his fingers through her shoulder-length dark hair. She hadn't wanted long hair, but her mother insisted after Andreas had remarked that she would be much prettier with long hair.

Hilde thought about taking another pill, but since they had been prescribed after her father's death, she had been very careful to use them sparingly so that she wouldn't become like the men and women whose lives were broken by prescription drugs. "Do you think we could squeeze in a little rest, too?"

Andreas leaned forward to look in her eyes. "Whatever you want, princess."


	5. Chapter 4

**Four**

Hilde was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she saw through the glass of her mirror that Andreas had entered her bedroom. He had his own room in her apartment that he used when he stayed over, and after spending the afternoon with her, he decided to stay before taking her out rather than return to his own place. He had several changes of clothing in his closet and had chosen a dark silk suit that fit him to perfection. Now the suitcoat was slung over his arm that he held out to her.

"Will you help me with my cufflinks, my dear?"

Her knee-length cocktail dress shimmered and draped over her as she stood and turned to face him. "You can help me with my necklace," she said as she took the diamond cufflinks from him and fixed first the left and then the right through the holes at his cuffs. Before reaching back for the pearl necklace that matched her teardrop earrings, she reached up to straighten his tie, pausing to rest her hands on the deep blue silk covering his chest. As she absent-mindedly rubbed the cloth, her thoughts strayed to memories of Duo's eyes. She wished Andreas didn't prefer this color or that it didn't make him look so damn handsome.

He caught her hands, and she looked up to see him smiling. "We have reservations, Hilde. I don't think either of us has time to get out of these clothes to do what you are thinking."

Hilde turned away so that he wouldn't see her frown and took the necklace from its velvet case. The set had been a gift from Werner and Lina Richter upon her twentieth birthday four years ago. She had just recovered from the worst of her depression and the gift had cheered her although her mother remarked later that the Werners could afford something more spectacular.

Andreas took the necklace, and she turned around to face the mirror, watching as he unclasped it, draped it around her neck and then fastened it in the back. He dropped his hands to her waist, and as he leaned down to press a warm kiss to the nape of her neck, he slid his fingers over the smooth fabric of her dress until he was cupping her breasts.

She twisted from his grasp with a laugh. "Now who is trying to cause a delay?"

"I couldn't resist," he said with a lazy smile. He looked at her hair which she had spent the last twenty minutes arranging in an elegant updo that left a few wispy curls to frame her face. Before she could stop him, he plucked out two anchoring hairpins and tossed them on her dressing table, leaving her to contend with the hair cascading over her shoulders.

"I like your hair down." He slipped on his dinner jacket and turned away to cross the room to her bed which she had straightened herself after he had left the room to shower. By the time he had taken her evening wrap from the bed where she had lain it and returned to drape it over her shoulders, she had managed to run a comb through her hair.

"Much better," he announced after sweeping his gaze over her.

"I liked it the other way," she muttered under her breath.

He grasped her chin in his hand and tilted her head to meet her gaze. "What did you say, my dear?"

Hilde considered telling him, but instead she said, "Nothing worth repeating."

Andreas smiled and released her chin. "I thought not." Putting his hand on the small of her back, he urged her out of the room, and by the time they reached the door, he had ordered her maid to call around the car.

There were photographers waiting outside, but the majordomo cleared a path for them to the car, and after they had settled, and it had pulled forward, Hilde asked, "Aren't you worried about negative publicity? I'm sure I saw some of those men here when we arrived this afternoon and they know we spent the day together." Not to mention they had been disheveled when they climbed out of the car when they arrived.

He waved his hand negligently. "Kurt will take care of anything I disapprove of. I doubt anyone will find our activities newsworthy after tonight."

Hilde didn't ask him to elaborate but settled back against the leather seats. She had never been to the nightclub of Le Beau Papillon which had opened less than a year ago. There were many elegant clubs in the Teuton sector that she and Andreas frequented, but she was glad that they were doing something different. During the twenty-minute drive, Hilde watched the passing scenery in the shadows of twilight as Andreas conferred with Kurt over the limousine's video communication link. Kurt had given her an obligatory compliment before he turned his attention to Andreas.

Hilde wanted to be interested in his political career, but her thoughts strayed to her own concerns. She had five pro bono clients to plead for in the morning. When she first started doing the work fresh from law school and having passed the bar examination on the first try, she thought she could make a difference in the lives of poor people who could not afford adequate representation in court. But the more clients she spoke for the more she realized that nothing could be done for them. They committed crimes with no thought to the consequences to themselves or the people that depended on them. She often managed to talk the judge into a reduced sentence, but there was nothing else she could do for them. Like Duo Maxwell, they did something stupid that ruined their lives.

Before she could think any more about him, the car slowed to a stop, and as Andreas left the vehicle to face the photographers outside the club – how had they known they were coming? – the chauffeur opened the door on her side and offered a hand to help her out. He brought her around to Andreas who was in the middle of answering a question, but he stopped and told them he was going inside and that they should contact Kurt Vogel to make an appointment to discuss their concerns.

A few men and women shouted questions at Hilde, but there were so many voices that she didn't understand what they were asking. A line had formed outside the nightclub, but Andreas escorted her to the front where the security guards nodded and let them through. The hostess greeted them warmly and showed them to a table not far from the stage where a man played piano in the low lighted club.

Once they were seated, the hostess told them that a waitress would be coming by to take their order. As her dinner partner studied the menu, Hilde looked around the nightclub. The vaulted ceiling was filled in with stained glass that was backlighted to show butterflies in shades of blue and green, the same colors of the tablecloths. Each table had a small light in the middle that simulated candlelight, giving the nightclub a romantic atmosphere.

A waitress came to take their drink order and had returned with them before another took an order for food. Hilde wanted to order a medium rare steak and baked potato, but her mother had succeeded in drilling into her that an elegant woman did not eat like a lumberjack when out with a gentleman. Instead of what she really wanted, she chose a small salad and a cup of soup. Andreas nodded his approval and she wondered if he would have changed the order if he didn't approve. He ordered baked salmon with garlic and herb potatoes, so she was glad that they had sex that afternoon because she didn't want to spend the evening dreading his breath. The uncharitable thought made her wince, so she drained half her martini and noticed that Andreas was watching.

Conscious of her mother's behavior, Hilde set aside the martini with the goal of not ordering a second. "The piano music is lovely."

Andreas stood and held out his hand to her. "Why don't we dance?"

At least dancing would keep them from looking at each other fumbling for something to talk about. He wanted to hear about her cases as little as she wanted to hear about his campaign. There were other couples swaying to the mellow music provided by the pianist and they soon found the rhythm together, his hand on the small of her back, hers on his shoulder as they held their other hands clasped.

"You are very beautiful tonight, Hilde," he said when he leaned in close. "I don't tell you that often enough."

She smiled up at him. "Are you fishing for a compliment, Andreas? Very well. You are very handsome and gallant tonight." He had been attentive that afternoon, had even apologized for his boorish behavior in the limousine, and it was too bad that any enjoyment she got with him was mild and easily forgotten. Her mother would probably tell her not to expect more. Alliances in the Teuton community were not based on passion.

He leaned down to press a kiss on her neck beneath her ear. "I'm already looking forward to being with you later."

Hilde closed her eyes so that he wouldn't see her annoyance if he chanced to look up. She needed to go over legal briefs so that she wouldn't look like a complete incompetent in representing the defendants facing court in the morning.

Andreas stopped moving and released her to reach into his jacket pocket to remove a small velvet covered box. Hilde's heart felt like it was imploding in her chest as he opened the box and withdrew a ring with an enormous diamond. Taking her hand, he slipped the ring on her finger before he met her startled gaze. "You can't be surprised, Hilde. I need a wife and I can't think of a better woman to fill that role in my life."

As he brought her fingers to his lips, she was treated to a soft round of applause from the other patrons of the nightclub who had watched them where they had come to a stop in the middle of the dance floor. Hilde thought she would be sick as so many people looked at her, but she forced a smile to her lips. What could she say? What should she say?

He didn't need a response because he tucked away the box without waiting for one and drew her back into his embrace. "We'll make a good couple, Hilde. There is nothing we won't be able to do and nothing we can't have together."

There was only one thing she wanted and that was lost to her.

 _By the time Duo and Hilde came to the dining hall, the footman had already refilled her father's glass of bourbon. Otto Schbeiker was seated at the end of the long table, and he watched them approach over the rim of his glass as Helmut seated Ingrid to his right. Hilde prayed that Duo would remember her lessons in etiquette and was relieved when he released her to pull out her chair, offer his hand to help her sit and then pushed in her chair._

 _Hilde watched him take the seat next to her and move the napkin from the plate to his lap. She almost heaved an audible sigh of relief, but she caught her mother's sardonic look and knew that she wasn't fooled by Duo's manners. Ingrid probably knew everything there was to know about him and disapproved vehemently. Her father tended to stay out of her business, had only once voiced disapproval in her decision to join the military and then let it drop. He was staring at Duo in puzzlement as if he didn't know why he was there, so Hilde hoped he had not been drinking heavily before their arrival._

 _Otto opened his mouth to speak, but Ingrid ordered the footman to call for the meal and he fell silent. Each course of the meal was dry, including the beef wellington which prompted her mother to remark that the kitchen staff should be fired if they didn't know how to keep a meal warm. Hilde could hardly blame them when her entire life they ate promptly at the same time every evening. Duo didn't seem to notice anything amiss in the meal as he cleaned his plate. Her mother ate only a small portion, her father drank more than he ate, and Hilde lost her appetite._

 _When Duo raised the napkin to his lips when he finished the entree, he looked expectantly towards the kitchen, probably anticipating the dessert she assured him would be served. He was hoping for a chance to try cherries jubilee because he had only ever heard about it._

 _Her father suddenly shot to his feet. "Come with me to the study, young man."_

 _Hilde was startled that he would invite Duo to his study after not saying a single word to him. She hadn't thought he would have a private word with him and so she hadn't coached Duo on what he should and shouldn't say._

 _Duo stood. "Yes ..." Hilde held her breath and hoped with all her might that he did not say 'your highness' as he had done during her lessons. He had been joking then and they had laughed, but she was terrified he would say it now. But he concluded with "sir."_

 _She watched them leave with Duo a few paces behind and she noted that they were a similar height and build._

 _"Your young man is impressive. He reminds me of Otto when he was younger. Is he as randy in the bedroom? Is that why you were late?"_

 _Hilde squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to stave off an approaching headache and then looked at her mother. "That is none of your business."_

 _"None of my business?" Ingrid sipped from her glass of wine. "You bring that mongrel into our home and you think I don't have a right to say what I want under my own roof?"_

 _"He's not a mongrel!" Hilde hated that a man or woman's worth was only as good as their bloodlines in Teuton society. "He's a war hero ..."_

 _"You mean a war criminal. How many people did he kill with the monstrosity he piloted?"_

 _"I piloted a mobile suit," Hilde reminded her._

 _"That is different," Ingrid said with a sniff and another sip of her wine._

 _"How is that different?"_

 _Ingrid shrugged. "Because you are someone and he is no one. When you grow bored with him, you can come back home, and we will find you a suitable man to marry and raise children with."_

 _Hilde didn't ask her to explain because her mother would do just that. Duo didn't have the right bloodlines to mix with hers. He didn't even know who his parents were because he was one of the many orphans on the colony left to fend for himself. He had even given himself his own name! Her mother was right, that he was completely unsuitable for their society, but Hilde didn't want anything to do with the racist bastards. Leaving the colony behind to fight was the best thing that had ever happened to her because it had opened her eyes to a world she had never known existed._

 _"I am sure that Otto is explaining to Duo Maxwell how unsuitable he is for you at this very moment."_

 _If Duo put a fist in her father's face, she wouldn't be surprised, but rather she would be delighted. Her mother micro-managed every aspect of her life while Otto ignored her to the point of neglect. He had even refused to stop working to attend the father-daughter ball in the final year at her exclusive school, and if Werner Richter had not stood in for him, she would have been the only girl at school without her father in attendance. She had been glad Werner had been there because her father couldn't have given her the wonderful night that he had._

 _Instead of responding to her mother, she sat with her hands in her lap when she wasn't sipping her wine with only the ticking of the clock marring the silence between them. If her father drove Duo away, she would leave this house and never return. She didn't need them and their money. She needed Duo._

"Who is that?" The sour note in Andreas' voice snapped Hilde from her memories. She turned in the direction he was looking and knew what had caused his annoyance. A man at the entrance of the nightclub was getting as much if not more attention than he did when he arrived. At first, she couldn't see who it was because of the crowd surrounding him, and then when he left them behind, she recognized Triton Bloom, the young man who had gone by the name of Trowa Barton during the war. He had been a comrade of Duo's, piloting one of few gundams to help in the effort to derail the Romefeller's plans for dominating both the Earth Sphere and the colonies. After the war he joined his sister as a circus performer and he was well-known throughout the colonies, except to someone like Andreas who wouldn't waste his time with that sort of entertainment.

Suddenly Triton raised his head and their eyes met from across the room. Hilde looked away quickly, but it was too late.

"He's coming this way," muttered Andreas with irritation before he plastered a smile on his lips and rose to meet him.

Hilde also rose because she knew he was coming to see her. She caught Andreas' scowl when Triton took her hands and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I didn't think I would see anyone I knew when I decided to leave the hotel tonight. It's good to see you, Hilde."

"It's good to see you too." She turned him to Andreas who was waiting impatiently for an introduction. "May I introduce you to ..." the words almost stuck in her throat, "my fiancé, Andreas Becker. Andreas, this is a friend I made during the war, Triton Bloom."

The two men shook hands and while she sensed reluctance, Andreas asked, "Are you alone, Mr. Bloom? Would you care to join us?"

Hilde held her breath, hoping desperately that he would agree, and she had to release it carefully when he nodded. "I would be delighted, that is, if Hilde doesn't mind me interrupting what appears to be a romantic evening."

"I would love to have your company," she said evenly, not betraying exactly how delighted she was to have a buffer between her and her new fiancé.

As a waiter brought another chair and place setting, the waitress took his drink order and Triton ordered a light meal. The waitress brought another round of martinis for Hilde and Andreas along with Triton's drink.

"What brings you to this colony?" asked Andreas after taking a sip.

"My employment. I am a performer in the Earth and Space Circus that has been booked on colony L2 for the next month. Perhaps you would like to see the performance?" He reached into his formal dinner jacket and withdrew a couple of hologram tickets that he placed on the table. Andreas didn't realize that they were worth a fortune as he ignored them.

"A circus?" Andreas didn't bother to hide his distaste. "That hardly seems like a viable career."

"Neither was the military, but I got by." His hair still hung over one side of his face which served to soften any strong emotions he might betray.

"What, exactly, do you do at the circus?"

"I am a performer in the aerial show, I sometimes join the clowns in their skits and I offer myself as a human target for my sister's knife-throwing act."

Hilde could see that Andreas was appalled by the recitation of his various talents. "I saw him perform on Earth," she commented. "He is very skilled."

Andreas glanced at her sharply, probably wondering if he had performed for her personally. Triton was as attractive as her fiancé and their table had become the center of attention.

"I wasn't aware that a circus had been booked on the colony," commented Andreas.

Triton waved his hand. "It was a last-minute engagement timed to coincide with the Winner Foundation charity gala that will take place in the hotel across the street next week."

Hilde had already ordered a gown for the event. "You aren't going to be performing at the hotel, are you?" She tried to imagine what the circus would do.

"No, but next week we will be offering free performances for the children of the colony."

"I am sure they will enjoy it!" If Triton didn't hear the lack of sincerity in Andreas' voice, Hilde did. "They have little to be happy about given the state of the colony. Many sectors were heavily damaged during the war, but we are finally doing something to clean up the mess."

"The Winner Foundation is raising capital to build adequate housing that working families can afford," Triton told him as he nodded in agreement. He looked past Hilde to where the pianist was returning after taking a break. Triton stood and held out his hand, but he glanced at Andreas. "I hope you do not mind if I dance with your lovely fiancée."

Andreas seemed to be distracted and Hilde saw that he was already reaching for the pocket that held his phone. "I'm sure she will enjoy it."

Hilde took his hand and walked onto the dance floor with him. He didn't hold her as closely as Andreas had for which she was glad because she didn't want her fiancé to come onto the dancefloor beating his chest like a gorilla claiming its mate.

"I didn't realize that you were engaged," Triton said after they had swayed companionably to the music for several moments.

"I have been engaged for about forty minutes."

His head turned to look at the ostentatious ring on her finger. "If I had been a little earlier I might have witnessed his romantic proposal?"

Hilde could not keep from laughing. "You didn't miss anything. Andreas is like every other Teuton, no nonsense and down to business. We've been seeing each other for four years, so I suppose I should have expected the proposal sooner or later." She just wanted it to happen much later and with a little more affection. Even Duo's attempt to tell her his feelings on the doorstep of her parents' home conveyed more to her than Andreas' proposal.

"Congratulations."

They danced without speaking for several more minutes before he spoke again. "Am I to understand that you haven't seen Duo Maxwell since his release from prison?"

Hilde didn't respond for a moment as she quickly constructed a barrier of steel around her heart. "No. He hasn't made any attempt to see me, and I don't have any reason to see him." Lie! She wanted to see him. She wanted to demand answers for everything that had happened. She wanted him to explain why he had ruined her life!

"I suppose he travels in circles very different from yours." Triton glanced around the exclusive nightclub. "I didn't realize that society on this colony was so stratified."

He couldn't begin to imagine how stratified it was. There were moments that Hilde selfishly caught herself feeling relieved that she was part of the Teuton community. It hadn't seen any damage during the war, probably because it's wealth meant that it was heavily defended and nearly impregnable. Before the war even started the outer sectors of the colony were miserable places to live with its overcrowding and crime. The damage from the war only made it worse.

"I didn't know how things stood between you and Duo. When I saw him with a little girl a few days ago at the circus, I thought she might be yours, but she didn't look anything like you."

Hilde stumbled on her spiked heels, but Triton caught her. The steel around her heart melted so quickly that she felt faint and the pain was nearly unbearable. "He was at the circus with a little girl?"

"Yes, his daughter. I guess the two of you must have had a falling out and he took up with an old flame. I can't imagine how she managed to raise their daughter alone when he was in prison."

Feeling even weaker, she clutched at Triton's shoulder to keep herself upright. "I ... I didn't know what he did after ... after his arrest."

"He's secretive, I'll grant you. I tried to get him to open up about where he lives, but he managed to keep it to himself. I don't even know what he does or where he works although he did make it clear he didn't have time to be away from his job for long."

"I thought I saw him in this restaurant this afternoon," she heard herself saying. She gave a brittle laugh. "Duo wouldn't be washing dishes. He's too smart to be stuck doing something like that."

"I agree. Maybe he'll bring his daughter to the circus again for one of the free performances and I'll be able to get more out of him. He seemed very devoted to the little girl."

The song came to an end and Hilde returned to the table on wobbly legs. Andreas had been on the phone, but he turned it off and slipped it back in his pocket when they returned.

He stood when they came to the table. "You don't look well, my dear. I shouldn't have made you come out tonight." Without asking if she wanted to leave, which she did, he took her elbow and drew her close. "We'll make this a short night."

Triton nodded to him. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Becker." He took Hilde's hand and raised it to his lips. "Perhaps we can get together again before I leave the colony to talk about old times."

"I'm sure that would be nice," Andreas answered for her before he led her briskly away. He paused to get her wrap which he settled around her shoulders before moving her through the gauntlet of photographers, all shouting questions about their engagement, and when they were settled in the car and on the road, Hilde was startled when Andreas seized her shoulders and pulled her to face him.

It was too dark to see his face, but she could feel that he was rigid with anger. "Did you fuck that vulgar street performer too?"

Hilde gasped in outrage and tried to twist out of his grasp, but he only tightened his hold.

"Answer me!" he demanded as he shook her roughly. "I don't appreciate being made a fool of by having to face your lovers."

When she didn't answer, he thrust her back against the seat and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Your silence is answer enough."

She swallowed nervously and pushed herself up to sit with her hands in her lap. "I was not intimate with Triton Bloom," she told him. "We were friends and nothing more. In fact, I only knew him through ..."

"Don't say his name! He's caused you enough pain and humiliation!"

Neither of them spoke for several minutes, and when he seemed to have gotten his temper under control, he reached out to draw her against him. "Forgive me, Hilde. I was hoping to have you to myself tonight, and when he showed up, I lost my temper. I didn't mean to blame you."

"We could have stayed in tonight," she suggested.

"No, Kurt already arranged for my appearance at the nightclub."

Of course, his proposal was a campaign stunt. She guessed that everyone in attendance at the luncheon knew what was going to happen. "I'm sorry it didn't go as planned," she said for lack of any other response.

He pushed his fingers through her hair and closed them into a fist before forcing her head to his. "Seeing another man look at you like he did made me want to claim you as mine."

"You already did," she reminded him as she raised her hand. The diamond caught even the smallest amount of light to reflect.

But Andreas growled and put his hand between her legs to clasp her. "This is mine, Hilde. I'll kill anyone that touches what belongs to me, and I'll kill you for letting them."

As he sealed his vow with a bruising kiss, Hilde wondered how she could have so misjudged this man.


	6. Chapter 5

**FIVE**

After spending the entire day on his feet bent over a sink scrubbing pots, Duo was afraid that after his long walk back to the apartment that he wouldn't be able to stay awake long to watch Mia. But after Duo had all but fallen on his knees before Carbuncle to ask for forgiveness for his behavior, and the man surprised him by telling him he could return to the kitchen after working off his smart remark cleaning the worst of the pots for a week, Duo couldn't feel any resentment. A week was nothing after spending five years in the dungeon, and after today, he was halfway through his sentence, but he felt as if he had been doing it for a month. At the door, Madame Chantal had been waiting for him with a chicken on rice meal with some fancy name that had been the daily special. Duo put up a token resistance to her charity, but he knew there wasn't anything to eat in the house that morning and when he tried to wake Ellie to remind her to get food, she groaned and buried her head under a pillow. At least he wouldn't have to worry about how Mia was going to eat.

As he drew closer to the tower, Duo could hear more activity than was usual for this time of day. Most families should be sitting down to eat so they would be inside, but he could hear a lot of voices outside even before he rounded the corner. The sight that greeted him took his breath away. There was already a fence around the apartment building, and there were dozens of construction workers making an even wider perimeter by dragging barricades into place. He nearly dropped the meal he was carrying when he saw that the large placard emblazoned with a fiery bird had been attached to the tower. The Phoenix Group had come to claim the last of Sector 13.

Duo hurried forward and pushed through men, women and children who were leaving the building behind, their arms filled with whatever they could carry. He stopped one of the men to ask where they were going, but he didn't have an answer. There was a desolate look of shock in his eyes and those of his wife while their two small children seemed to think they were going on an adventure. Seeing that the others leaving the building were in a similar state, Duo went to one of the construction workers who was shouting orders to the others.

"Excuse me sir," he said, careful not to sound confrontational. Duo knew that one of the first things the man would see when he turned around would be the tattoos on his wrists and he might become defensive.

The man stopped shouting and turned to look at Duo, his eyes sweeping from his face to his wrists and back again. "What do you want?"

Duo cocked his head to the building. "What's happening?"

"The Phoenix Group took possession of the property yesterday. They want what's left of the building down by tomorrow morning. Do you live there?"

He had been careful not to claim residence anywhere and he didn't do so now. "No, but my wife and child live there."

"You had better get them out. They're setting the charges now, so they can blow it after sunrise tomorrow."

"Where should I take them?" Duo didn't think the Phoenix Group or the government for that matter would have made plans for the residents, so he wasn't surprised by the construction foreman's noncommittal shrug. He thanked the man, then hurried to the tower, pushing through the people clogging the stairs.

Duo didn't have time to be angry at the injustice of forcing families from their homes without any warning and not giving them any alternative living arrangements. He needed to get together as many of their few belongings as he and Ellie could carry and get them far away from the blast zone. The stairs were crowded with people going down, so it was slow going up. Duo hoped that Ellie had spent the day preparing to leave or that she had some idea of where they should go because he didn't know where they could afford to stay.

Finally reaching their apartment, he found Ellie talking on a phone that he didn't even know she had, her clothing arranged in neat piles in the living room. Not seeing Mia, Duo checked the closet and saw her playing with Teddy and the stuffed elephant from the circus that she had named Miss Pinky because, of course, it was pink. When she saw him, she carefully set aside the toys to go to him, and he squatted so that he could hug her.

"I have something for you," he told her calmly although he was nervous as he thought about the explosives that were being planted in the building that could be set off by careless handling. The Phoenix Group had already proven that they didn't care what happened to the people that lived in the sector, so they probably didn't take any extra safety precautions for the workers either.

Mia clapped her hands together as Duo opened the box containing the meal that Madame Chantal had sent with him. She leaned forward to smell it, closing her eyes to enjoy the aroma and Duo's own stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't had time to eat lunch that day.

"I'm going to let you have a picnic in here with Teddy and Miss Pinky," Duo told her.

She hopped up and down with excitement, then quickly sat cross-legged to arrange her stuff friends as Duo set the box before her on the floor. "You can eat while I speak to your mama."

He straightened and turned to leave, but Mia asked, "Aren't you eating with us, papa?"

"You start without me." He winked at her. "Leave some for me."

She nodded seriously, and his heart twisted. No matter how hungry she might be, she would try to leave food for him, and when she couldn't, her guilt at denying him would almost be worse than taking some of her food. He waited a moment until her picnic was underway before he left the closet.

When he stepped out, Duo saw two men wearing business suits carrying armfuls of her clothing out of the apartment. Carefully closing the door so that Mia couldn't hear their discussion, Duo went to Ellie. "I see that you have made arrangements. When I saw what was happening, I didn't know what we would do."

Ellie slipped the phone in the back pocket of her jeans. "We? I don't know what _you_ are doing, but _I_ have made plans. I'm going to stay with Robert until I find a place of my own."

She had been seeing the wealthy businessman every day for the last week, and Duo suspected they were doing more than just having coffee, so he wasn't surprised that her plans included him. "Do you want me to gather Mia's things?" He didn't know how he would bear not seeing his daughter every day, but he would gladly suffer the separation if it meant she could be safe.

"Didn't you hear what I said? _I_ am going with Robert. I don't care what you do with Mia. Drop her off at an orphanage or live with her in a ventilation shaft, it's all the same to me. I'm done with both of you! I've already quit my job at Le Beau Papillon because Robert is getting me a job in a club in Sector 4 where I won't have to pay back most of my earnings to the government to rebuild this dump. I won't have time for Mia."

Shocked and infuriated by her indifference to her own child, Duo was prevented from speaking when the men moving her things returned to collect the rest. He didn't dare raise his voice for fear that Ellie would call the authorities. Mia needed him now more than ever. Ellie didn't give him a chance to speak anyway because she followed the men to the door where she paused and turned to look at him.

"There were times, Duo, that I wanted to make this work, but you rejected me."

"The only time you wanted this to work was when you wanted something," he told her calmly, "whether it was money or sex."

She curled her lip in scorn. "You weren't good at providing either."

"I provided enough," he acknowledged bitterly. "When you came to the prison, I wondered why you would look me up after you had left the orphanage without so much as a backwards glance. I suspected you were using me in some sort of con game because you were good at that when we ran together on the streets, but I didn't care. You were my only link to the outside, and you even let me screw you."

"I gave you something you wanted," she retorted. "I didn't even think you would last long enough to get it done."

"Yeah, well, you helped, didn't you? I realized that you all but forced yourself on me and when you showed up again claiming to be pregnant, you caught me off guard. But then, you knew you would because you're so damn good at manipulating people. I convinced myself that it was okay that you scammed what little money you could from the government through me because I thought I might be helping someone in need. Hell, after enough time, I grew to believe that you weren't even pregnant, and I didn't care, so when you showed up with Mia the day I was released from prison, I doubted she was mine."

Ellie's face twisted into a sneer. "If you have any doubt, then drop her off at an orphanage so you don't have to take care of her."

Duo shook his head sadly. "If I had any doubt, you just cleared it up. Mia is mine and you hate her because of it. I don't know what your ultimate goal was for the sick plan you hatched to use me, but it's not her fault you fucked up. Even if she isn't my biological daughter, I couldn't love her any more than I do." She was the only brightness in a life that had gone to hell.

Ellie stared at him silently for a moment, and then she said, "You weren't what I was expecting, Duo. But we both got something from our arrangement. You got that brat, and I have been saving for a day just like today. Once I find a place to live, between your military benefits and my income, I should be able to live comfortably, and you can't do anything to stop me, not when you can't afford to live anywhere but the streets, let alone be able to pay for the services of a lawyer."

With that, she turned on her heel and left, and when he felt calm enough to move, he went to the window in time to see her step into a car with the help of an older man dressed smartly in a tailored suit.

He was watching the car drive away when a knock at the door drew his attention. There was a construction worker carrying a crate. "I was told this apartment would be cleared out. I have orders to set charges in here."

Duo scrubbed his face with his hands, took a breath and then said, "Can I get a few minutes? My daughter is eating her meal and I should be able to get our things together by the time she is finished."

"Sure thing. I could use the break, but don't let her take too long. I have a lot of other charges to set."

He waited until the man was gone before Duo went to the hole behind the refrigerator to fish out the gun which he then wrapped up with his clothing to pack into one of the blankets he took from the bed. If he got caught with the weapon, he would be sent back to prison immediately, not just because he would be violating his parole, but because only the police and military were legally authorized to carry firearms. When he had first returned to the colony, he had to surrender the pistol he had used as a Preventer. He should leave Dorothy Catalonia's gun hidden in the wall, but Duo didn't know where he and Mia would end up and he needed some way to protect her.

When he had his own meager things ready, he went to the closet to find that Mia had finished her meal and that she had eaten everything Madame Chantal had sent home with him. Her face and hands were covered with sticky rice and sauce, and Duo chastised himself for not giving her at least a spoon. Mia didn't seem to notice the mess she had made as she played with her toys, but when she saw him, her lips pursed and her eyes were glistening with tears.

"I'm sorry, papa. I ate it all."

"That's all right sweetie. I'll get something later. Now I want you to help me get you ready for a little trip."

"Like when we went to the circus?" she asked, her expression brightening.

"No, we'll be gone a little longer this time."

"Is mama coming too?"

He wasn't sure what he would tell her in the future, but for now he said, "Your mama has to work."

"Will we go on a picnic again, too?"

Before Duo could respond, he heard the construction worker calling into the apartment to find out if he was still there. "We have to go now, Mia."

He picked her up by the waist to move her, then used her small blanket to wrap up her belongings which amounted to so little that he didn't need anything else to hold them. He took her hand and led her from the room. The water was already cut off to the building, so Duo couldn't wash her. He snatched up his own bundle and headed to the door where the man waiting to get inside made room, then slipped past him.

Not knowing where to go, Duo followed the others leaving the apartment building. The place hadn't been ideal, but they had a space to call their own where they could be relatively safe. Now they were on the street heading away from the blasting zone, and Duo knew that regardless of how far they travelled, Mia was going to hear the blast and she was going to feel the ground shake when the high-rise collapsed in on itself. She was probably going to be as frightened as he had been when the first attack had been launched on the colony. Duo had nearly been trampled that day as people screamed and scattered to avoid the fallout, and he could remember as it were yesterday how terrified he had been of the mobile suits that appeared in the air to blast the buildings in the sector where he lived. At least Duo could hold Mia and assure her the world was not coming to an end.

They walked for hours with the other refugees displaced by the Phoenix Group, some heading in different directions after the colony police told them they were in the safe zone. By listening to bits of conversation as they walked, Duo gathered that some families knew of others who could take them in temporarily, but most families were discussing which ventilation shafts had space available. As a child Duo had played in the enormous tubes, but he never imagined anyone living in them, or that they would be so full of homeless people that he would have to find room in one to settle down for the night. The police didn't seem to care where they went as long as they didn't cause trouble, and Duo wasn't the only man or woman that got a second look because the coding embedded in their tattoos triggered a response in their scanners. At the least provocation, they would be happy to arrest them, especially since it meant a bonus in their pay.

When Mia grew tired of walking, Duo propped her on his shoulders and told her to hang onto his hair. The sensitive girl didn't want to hurt him, so she hugged his head instead, making it even more difficult for him to carry both her and their belongings. The group stopped at several different shafts only to find them full, and they didn't find one with room for them until well after midnight. Along with all the other men, women and children, Duo was bone weary and Mia was so tired she didn't say anything as he found a spot for them on the dirty metal floor against the wall near the opening. He quickly made a bed by placing their clothing beneath them, and after wrapping Mia in her blanket, he covered them both in the one blanket he had taken from the apartment.

Mia fell quickly asleep, but having grown up on the streets, Duo was no stranger to places like these. He stayed alert for as long as he could until he dozed off, but he must have fallen into a deep sleep because he didn't awaken until he felt Mia's fingers digging into him as she held tight handfuls of his shirt. He thought she might be having a bad dream, but if she was, he had been drawn into it. Opening his eyes, he saw faint light from further in the shaft, and he heard a man, his terrified, indistinct words of begging ending with the crunching sound of a heavy blow. A woman shrieked, men laughed and then he heard noises that left no doubt as to what was happening to her. There were gangs in Sector 13 that prowled the streets at night to engage in such primitive behavior that the area well deserved its lawless reputation. Not even the colony police would be on the streets after the sunshields were closed to simulate night.

This was why he had brought the gun, and he now slid his hand behind his back to touch it, feeling overwhelming relief when his fingers closed around it. By the light their flashlights gave off, he could see men ransacking the belongings of the refugees, beating those that tried to stop them, seizing women and girls little older than Mia to threaten with knives or clubs to come with them. They had already beaten a few men who must have resisted. As they drew closer to the wide opening of the shaft near the place where Duo had settle with Mia, his heart began to pound in fear for Mia, and sensing his distress, she whimpered.

Duo held her tighter with one arm as he flicked off the safety of the gun when one of the men who must have heard Mia, paused, turned in their direction and lumbered towards them, a huge frightening shape in the dark. Mia was panting in fear, but Duo remained completely still, though he mentally prepared for action just as he did when he had piloted his gundam.

"What are you hiding beneath your blanket?"

He didn't wait for Duo to respond but reached out to jerk back the edge of the blanket as he flashed his light directly in Mia's face. Duo saw a filthy brute with missing teeth leering down at Mia who surely saw a monster. "I like them young! Give her to me if you know what's good for you. I promise I'll be gentle with her and if she learns fast, I'll sell her to a brothel instead of an orphanage."

Duo didn't give him a chance to touch her. Releasing Mia, he thrust out to seize a handful of whatever he could grab between the man's legs and twisted, not releasing him until he doubled over howling in pain. Pulling the gun from behind his back, he put the barrel under the man's chin, squeezed the trigger and then kicked him back as most of his head shot to the top of the ventilation shaft.

The silencer kept the sound of the shot from reverberating around the metal tube, but it wasn't quiet enough to keep those near Duo from realizing what he had done and that included the thugs who had gone ahead. As the people in his group scattered to get away from him, the other gang members rushed at him, their weapons raised to attack him, but Duo leapt to his feet and took careful quick aim at each of them. He was afraid he would run out of bullets, or that he might miss, and the bullet would ricochet and hit an innocent bystander, but the gun handled smoothly – what else could he expect from Dorothy Catalonia's handgun - and his aim was true. When he was done firing, he still had a few bullets left and there wasn't a sound from any of the thugs, not even a death gurgle.

For a moment, nobody moved or spoke, and then the women and children the gang members had tried to take stumbled back to their families and he could hear them weeping. Duo sat back down, and after tucking the gun back behind him, he pulled Mia into his arms to comfort her, hoping that she hadn't watched what he had done. Duo didn't want to feel guilty, not for ridding the world of men who would prey on helpless people, but he left the Preventers because he was sick of war and killing.

Mia was trembling, but after listening to his soothing words as he held her close, she relaxed and she either fell asleep or fainted. She would probably wake in the morning thinking she had a terrible dream, or she wouldn't be able to make sense of what she had witnessed.

Some of the men left their families to drag the bodies to the far back of the shaft where it curved downward and they tossed them over the edge before settling down with their loved ones. Duo couldn't sleep for the rest of the night because he was worried the men who had come into their shaft were part of a larger group that might return looking for them. If that were the case, he wouldn't have enough bullets left to fend them off. But nobody came in search of them, and he was still wide awake when light seeped in to reveal the blood they wouldn't be able to clean because there was no water.

The group of men that had disposed of the bodies were whispering among themselves and Duo watched them warily as one of them moved over to him cautiously. Duo reached behind himself for the gun just in case he had come to try to take his weapon, but the man put up his hands to show that he was unarmed.

"I don't know who you are, but I've seen you around the tower. That pretty blond with the hot body living on the fifth floor was yours, wasn't she? I'm not surprised you left her behind. She was making a little extra on her back and on her knees while you were putting in a hard day's work."

Duo hadn't known Ellie was selling her body, but he wasn't all that surprised. He wasn't going to thank the man for his information after the fact. What she did was her business, but he was angry that she exposed Mia to the kind of men that would hire a prostitute.

"She wasn't my wife," he felt the need to say so that he didn't appear to be a complete fool.

"Listen, you did us a favor. A couple of the men were stabbed, so we can explain away the blood if the authorities ask, but we think you should move on before the police come by. We were warned by people in other shafts that they are in the pocket of the gangs. If it means life or death for us, we'll give you up in a heartbeat, no matter how grateful we are that you saved our women and children."

"I understand," said Duo. He'd do the same thing in their places. Although stiff from sleeping on the hard metal, he managed to get up without waking Mia. "We'll leave now."

"If you want to leave the girl so you get a head start, we can make sure she gets to a proper orphanage. There's a good one in the next sector where the children get two meals a day, a bed of their own and clean clothing. Some of us are thinking of leaving our kids there until we are settled."

Duo knew if they left their children at an orphanage, the government would prevent them from ever reclaiming them. They made too much money selling them to couples unwilling or unable to have their own children. "I'm taking my daughter with me."

"Suit yourself, but you had better get going."

Because he had to carry Mia, Duo couldn't take everything with them, so he settled with one change of clothing for them both which he tied in Mia's blanket along with Teddy, Lady Pinky and the teapot and cups which he cushioned with their clothing so they wouldn't break. As he moved along, people made way so that he had a clear path to the outside. He paused at the entrance to look both ways and when he saw that the alley was empty, he headed out.

Having nowhere else to go, Duo headed to work, hoping with every step he took that Madame Chantal would not fire him and turn them away, especially after what Ellie had done. He was in no shape to work, not physically or mentally. Last night it had been easy to kill those men when they were threatening Mia, and while he felt completely justified, Duo wouldn't be human if he didn't feel sick about what he had to do.

After walking for nearly an hour, careful not to wake Mia, Duo came to the back door of the restaurant, and he was regretting having to wake Mia so that he could key in the code to enter when he saw Carbuncle turn the corner and head in his direction. Duo expected him to mock him or boot him down the alley, but the man glanced at the child in his arms, took in their condition and opened the door for them.

"I heard about the evacuation in Sector 13 on the news," he said gruffly. "I didn't know if you were living out that way, but I thought you might be. Wait in the workroom while I tell Madame Chantal what has happened."

Duo went to the workroom which was quiet now although several of the employees were putting on aprons and moving about to take out supplies for the day. They glanced at Duo but didn't speak to him, probably because Mia was sleeping. He hoped he didn't look as bad as he felt although he probably looked worse. He only had to wait a few minutes before Carbuncle returned with Madame Chantal behind him. She didn't have a chance to speak because they suddenly heard a far-off explosion and pots and pans rattled as the ground shook. Madame Chantal wavered, but Carbuncle caught her and helped her maintain her balance until the tremors subsided.

Surprisingly Mia did not wake although her small body shuddered in his arms. "I'll understand if you want to fire me," Duo blurted before she could speak. "Ellie told me what she did and ..."

"Never mind," she said with a wave of her hand. "Rogelio, help him with his things and follow us. Come along, Duo."

"I didn't know where else to go," Duo explained to her back as they went into her office. He was going to sit, but she opened a door that he had thought was a closet, but it led to a flight of stairs. He followed her up and was immediately embarrassed to find himself in her personal living space.

"Rogelio, put their things in the backroom, then ask the breakfast cook to prepare a larger meal than usual for me this morning and have it served to me here."

"Oui, madame." He disappeared down a hallway, then reappeared and left by the staircase.

After he had gone, Madame Chantal signaled for Duo to follow her and she led him down a hall that had three doorways. "You can stay here until you are on your feet." She led him to the door the furthest down the hall and after opening it, she stepped aside. "After Mia is settled, you and I can have breakfast together."

The bed was bigger than the one that Duo had shared with Ellie, so there would be plenty of room for them both. There was even a small sofa before a false fireplace, and Duo noticed that there was an adjoining bathroom. Just seeing the shower through the open doorway made his skin crawl after how he had spent the night. But he laid Mia on the bed and was untying her blanket to drape over her when Madame Chantal left the room and returned carrying a quilt which she carefully arranged over the sleeping child. Duo let the now filthy blanket that Mia had used drop back down on the chair, and while Madame Chantal stood over Mia watching her sleep, Duo tucked the gun into the back of his pants and pulled his shirt out of his pants to cover it.

He went to stand next to her and he was surprised when she curled her arm around his. "My mother gave me that blanket so that I could one day use it with my own child. I never had the chance."

Duo didn't know what to say. Madame Chantal wasn't elderly, but she was certainly beyond childbearing years. "I apologize that Mia is so dirty. I hope she doesn't ruin it."

She chuckled softly and patted his arm. "Come out and have something to eat. I want to hear what happened."

When they went back out in the main living space which was an open living room, kitchen and dining area, all tastefully decorated, one of the day waitresses was already setting the breakfast on the table. She glanced curiously at Duo, then curtseyed and left them alone. Duo hadn't eaten since the previous morning, so he eyed the scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and biscuits hungrily. He had a memory of Hilde telling him that no matter how hungry he was, he shouldn't eat like a pig at a trough.

As he sat down, he took the napkin from the plate and spread it on his lap like Hilde had taught him, earning him a faint smile of approval from Madame Chantal. Duo didn't know why, but the memories of his last night with Hilde came rushing back to him. After spending the last five years in prison replaying the episode over and over in his mind, he knew that the dinner he had shared with her parents had been responsible for the end of his relationship with Hilde. He had no way of proving it, but he was equally sure the powerful Teuton family had sent him to prison.


	7. Chapter 6

**SIX**

 _Duo had been nervous about meeting Hilde's parents and tried to put it off to no avail. Arriving at their home and being confronted with the wealth from which she had come but only hinted at didn't make the experience any less daunting. Throughout the meal, her mother looked down her nose at him while her father stole cryptic glances at him as he guzzled bourbon. Duo had been anticipating eating dessert and getting the hell out of there before her father startled him._

 _He rose to his feet. "Come with me to the study, young man."_

 _Duo wasn't sure what to do, but looking at Hilde for guidance seemed wrong, so he said, "Yes ..." Damn! He was about to say, 'your highness' and remembered at the last second to say "sir." As he followed the older man, he wondered what a study was and concluded that it was probably like the drawing room. He couldn't imagine Hilde growing up here, but then he didn't even know places like the Schbeiker mansion existed on the colony._

 _The butler, Helmut, seemed to appear out of nowhere to open a set of double doors and as Duo stepped through, he felt as if he were walking into a cave. The room was paneled in dark wood that must have been imported from Earth, an extravagance reserved for only the wealthiest of families. The doors behind him closed with a click and Duo was startled to think he might be locked inside with Hilde's father. There was a large desk on one side of the room which was lined with bookcases. Some of the shelves contained books while others were decorated by various items that didn't seem to have any connection with each other. Duo wanted to look them over, but he didn't dare move more than a few steps into what appeared to be the other man's private space. There were two large leather covered stuffed chairs, one worn with use while the other seemed new, and between them was a small table with a crystal decanter of what appeared to be the same liquid Otto Schbeiker had been drinking at the table along with a set of glasses._

 _As Hilde's father crossed the room, Duo became aware of a set of swords crossed above the chairs over a shield with a design consisting of a yellow cross trimmed with black, a black eagle rising in the center. The man removed his dinner jacket and after tossing it over the back of one of the leather chairs, he unclipped his cuff links and set them on the table before rolling up the sleeves of his pristine white shirt. When he loosened his tie and stretched, Duo started to worry that he might take the swords down from the wall and challenge him._

 _But when he turned to look at Duo, his expression had softened and for a moment they stared at each other without speaking until Duo started to feel uncomfortable under his regard. Since he didn't speak, Duo decided that he should break the ice._

 _Groping for anything to say, he blurted, "I've never been in a study before."_

 _Otto chuckled and reached for the decanter to fill two glasses half-full. "I don't suppose you have."_

 _Duo assumed that meant he had investigated his background thoroughly and that made him feel even more uncomfortable._

 _The other man held out the glass to him and nodded to the chair that hadn't seen much use. "Have a seat. I'd like you to tell me about yourself."_

 _He hesitated a moment and then decided he would ruin all of Hilde's efforts to make him presentable if he bolted for the door. Crossing the room, he took the glass and sat as Otto did the same. Duo took a sip of the drink and nearly coughed at the strength of the liquor, but he noticed that Otto had drained his glass and then seemed to be chagrined to find it empty._

 _Wondering what he should say, his eyes strayed to the swords and his mouth moved with words before he could consider them. "Hey, are those real?"_

 _Otto followed his gaze, stared at the swords and shield for a moment and then responded. "They have been in my family for countless generations, since the time of the crusades. You will find similar artifacts in the homes of many families in this sector because we are all descended from Teutonic knights."_

 _"I don't know anything about that," Duo admitted, embarrassed by his lack of education. He had been taught to read, write and do math at which he excelled, but his history lessons were neglected._

 _"My family's pride in its past has played an important role in how it has come to be where it is now."_

 _"I don't have a family with a past to speak of." Duo thought Otto Schbeiker should know that he didn't have any illusions about his humble origins._

 _Hilde's father stared at him intently for a moment as if he were studying every feature of his face, and then he poured himself another drink. "I understand that you were left to fend for yourself."_

 _"I don't know exactly how that happened. I think I may have run from an abusive orphanage and fell in with other kids like me." Duo really didn't have a memory about how he had gotten on the streets or how he managed to survive._

 _Otto made a sound of annoyance. "Life in the outer sectors is harsh and unforgiving. The men working on the construction of the colony had their homes there, and despite the government advising against it, they brought their families to live with them. They underestimated the crude nature of the living conditions and many of those families had a difficult time with day to day living. The government set up a system of child protection service centers, presumably to help them. Families struggling to provide for children and especially young women who didn't have husbands to help with the burden of raising a child were encouraged to drop off their children with the intent of reclaiming them when they were able. The government would care for the children and give them an education until their parents could provide them with a more stable home."_

 _"I don't think that is what was happening," remarked Duo._

 _"No," said the other man with a long sigh. "As it turned out, the government was treating the facilities as if they were pet stores and selling the children to people for any purpose. Some wealthy families wanted to provide companions for their children, others wanted free labor, and some even wanted children but couldn't have their own. The 'adoptions' were closed and once the child was sold, there was no recourse for the families who returned to reclaim their children."_

 _"The past is the past," said Duo. "I can't dwell on what my parents had in mind when they dropped me off. Maybe they loved me and thought they were doing what was best for me, and maybe they just wanted to get rid of me."_

 _Otto stared silently in his drink for several moments, and then he raised his head to look at him intently for even longer before he spoke again. "I won't insult your intelligence by pretending not to know anything about you. I know everything there is to know, or at least I thought I did. Investigators can only find out so much about a man, but they can't find out exactly who he is, what drives him. What drives you, Duo Maxwell? Why does Hilde feel compelled to throw away her heritage for a man who was not even given a name?"_

 _Duo took a sip of his drink hoping it would fortify him before he responded. "I don't know why she would do such a thing, sir. Especially after all that I have seen today."_

 _"Perhaps it is your honesty. In our world, we measure what we are going to say before we say it and consider the consequences of what we will do before acting. Maybe that's why I sometimes feel as though the Teuton society we have created is mired in the past. Hilde's decision to join the military sent shockwaves through the community. We have the resources to withstand any siege, but she walked out the gates to confront the enemy. I was proud of her when she resisted every attempt to prevent her from leaving. Did she tell you that she had to sneak aboard a transport of recruits leaving Sector 8?"_

 _What he was telling Duo was nothing like the story Hilde gave him. "She told me that you disapproved."_

 _"Of course, I did! I had to give the appearance that I fell in line with the rest of the community, but I secretly applauded her determination and her sense of justice. She honestly believed the lies OZ was spewing, so I have you to thank for opening her eyes before she became completely disillusioned with what she was doing."_

 _Duo felt embarrassed to be praised. "To be honest, sir, I sometimes wondered if I was fighting on the wrong side."_

 _"You and Hilde have convictions that aren't derived from a set of ideals that have warped as they passed down through hundreds of years." The other man leaned over and put his hand over Duo's where it rested on the arm of the chair. "I want you to know, Duo, that I would be proud to call you son."_

 _An anxious feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, so he took a longer swallow from the drink and then nearly upchucked his meal, but he managed to force it back down. By the amused look on Otto's face as he removed his hand and sat back in his chair, he knew what had happened._

 _"You probably haven't given any thought to marriage, but you must surely know that Hilde's mother is displeased that she has chosen to live with you over in Sector 10 without a permanent tie. Such arrangements are not permissible in our society."_

 _Duo grimaced. "From her reception, I don't think she wants any permanent tie between me and Hilde."_

 _"I suppose you are right, but that is not her decision to make." Otto rose from his chair and Duo set aside his drink to do the same. "Let's rejoin the women in the salon."_

 _Before leaving, Otto rolled down his sleeves, put on his cuff links, straightened his tie and settled into his dinner jacket again. Seeing Duo's bemusement, he smiled and went to put his hand on his shoulder. "I hope you never have to suffer the formality prevalent in our society."_

 _Duo sighed. "If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd rather you visited us than we visit you."_

 _Otto chuckled. "There are advantages to a home like this. Next time you visit, I'll introduce you to the game room."_

 _"Are there video games?" Duo asked hopefully._

 _"No, real games. I'll teach you to play billiards, so we can smoke cigars and get stinking drunk as we play."_

 _"I'll bet your wife encourages that particular activity."_

 _Otto chuckled as he led him down the hall until they met up with Helmut who appeared from the shadows to guide them to a room that they had not yet visited. Duo didn't realize there could be so many different types of rooms in a house, and he wondered if he could ever learn what they were all for. The salon looked to be a living room with furniture only slightly more comfortable than the chairs in the dining hall. Hilde's mother was sitting on a chair with spindly legs that didn't seem as if it could support any weight. She was flipping through a magazine as Hilde paced in front of a large fireplace._

 _"Hilde, I would appreciate if you would stay here tonight. There are some things that I need to discuss with you," announced Otto._

 _Duo didn't like the triumphant look on her mother's face, especially when she directed it at Hilde who seemed startled by her father's request. Had Duo completely misread Otto Schbeiker? Had thought they had a rapport._

 _"Why don't you take Mr. Maxwell home by car and return." Otto looked at the butler who was waiting at the door. "Helmut, call for a car and then I would like you to meet me in the study. I need your help with a project."_

 _Hilde looked as if she would argue but nodded and crossed the room to curl her arm around Duo's. "I will be back to discuss whatever it is you feel necessary to discuss."_

 _Duo looked at her mother. "It was a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."_

 _Without responding or looking at him, she waved her hand as if he were a fly that she wanted to shoo away. Before he turned to leave with Hilde, he saw her rising from her chair, her head turned towards her husband. He wondered what they would discuss and suspected they might have an argument considering how well his visit with Otto had gone._

 _By the time Helmut opened the front doors to let them out, a long, black car was waiting for them, a uniformed driver holding open the door. Duo was going to help Hilde in, but she climbed in and grabbed his hand to jerk him in with her. After the driver closed the door and before Duo had a chance to get settled in the decadently comfortable seat, Hilde had climbed over him to straddle his hips._

 _He was going to make a joke about being nasty in the back of her parents' car, but she started kissing him and grinding on his lap. By the time the car pulled away from the mansion and was on the street, he knew Hilde intended to be as nasty as she could in the car. He was nervous about the driver knowing what they were doing even though there was a partition that gave them privacy, but Hilde didn't seem to care as she undid his pants and ordered him to help between kisses. She was hot and eager which surprised him given the chilly atmosphere of the Schbeiker residence. If the windows of the car weren't tinted dark, anyone on the street would have gotten a show they wouldn't soon forget. Duo knew he wouldn't._

 _When they were finished, she remained seated on him, her cheek resting on his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair. He liked that she hadn't grown out the military cut because he thought she was pretty with short hair._

 _"You tasted like scotch," she remarked softly._

 _"Is that what it was?"_

 _She raised her head to look at his face. "My father shared his scotch with you?"_

 _"Yeah. You didn't tell me he was a nice guy. In fact, you let me think he was an asshole."_

 _Her brows drew together. "He is an asshole."_

 _"Maybe he just doesn't like women."_

 _Hilde huffed. "Married to my mother for almost twenty years, why would he have a reason to like women? I've never been able to convince him that I am different."_

 _"I don't know about that, Hilde. Maybe you just don't know him."_

 _"He has never given me a reason to know him." She climbed off Duo and pushed down her dress, but when she retrieved her panties from the car floor, she stuffed them in the pocket of his pants that he had just fastened. "I'll get them back later."_

 _Duo's brows raised on their own. "You're not going to have a discussion with your father without your underpants."_

 _"Why not? I'll be thinking of you and what we did the whole time he is lecturing me." She sat back against the seat and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not giving in, Duo. They are going to nag me to leave you and stay with them, but I'm not going to do it! They chose that shitty life, but I'm not going to follow in their footsteps."_

 _"Think about what you're giving up. A drawing room, a dining hall, a study, a game room, a salon and a butler that reads minds." Duo shook his head. "That's an awful lot."_

 _"You forgot to mention a father that doesn't speak to me and a mother that nags me incessantly. I should have taken you to dine with the Richters. They are more my parents than the Schbeikers."_

 _The car rolled to a stop and Duo leaned over to brush her lips with his own. "See you tomorrow. I have a job lined up from an old friend, so I might be busy."_

 _"An old friend?"_

 _She sounded worried, probably because his old friends on the colony were criminals or already in prison. The driver opened the door, and Duo stepped out, but he put his hand on the top of the car and leaned in to look at her. "Don't worry. I'm talking about clearing Leo debris from Sector 13. My old friend is the government. I think I'll make enough money from this job to afford a house. Of course, there won't be more than a few rooms, so I'm not sure it will be good enough for you."_

 _Hilde smiled and grabbed his tie to pull herself up for another kiss. "I'll see if I can sneak out tonight and come back to sleep with you."_

 _"Sleep? I don't think you have that in mind. No, you had better stay there. I don't want your mother pissed at me for your rebellion. That started long before I met you and I don't want her to have any reason to blame me."_

 _When he stepped away, he saw Hilde flop back against the seat to pout before the driver closed the door._

"Where did Ellie go?"

Duo snapped himself out of his thoughts of the past and noticed that he had cleaned off his plate as he reminisced. "She went to stay with Robert Cameron."

Madame Chantal cocked a brow. "You don't seem bothered. Is that how marriages are these days?"

He felt guilty to admit the truth, but he didn't feel right about staying with her without her knowing. "Ellie isn't my wife. She convinced the prison warden that we were married so she could get in to see me."

"And you took advantage of her visits?" she asked with a disapproving frown. "That doesn't sound like you, Duo."

"Well, a guy stuck in prison is bound to do a few things that aren't usual. I just didn't think anything would come of our deception. She said she wanted to help me, but she was only helping herself. Since I got out of jail, we continued with the lie because ... well, I didn't want to get put back in prison because of it and Ellie would get in trouble for claiming my military benefits for Mia. If we weren't married, she wouldn't have a right to them."

To his surprise, Madame Chantal nodded in understanding. "The government would have taken Mia and put Ellie in jail. What you did was underhanded, but I don't think you had a choice."

Duo sipped his coffee. "I don't know why Ellie did it, I mean, why she let me knock her up. She never told me. If it was just about the money, she could have found an easier way to get it. I found out this morning that she was taking money from men to have sex with her while I was at work."

Madame Chantal did not seem surprised, so Duo wondered if he was just a gullible fool. "I was afraid she was making arrangements with men during her nightclub act, but I didn't want to get involved. She is talented and beautiful, so she was quite a draw for the club, but there are plenty of talented, beautiful women who will appreciate the job. I'll have to be a little more diligent about their personal lives. I don't want the colony prosecutor to accuse me of being complicit. Andreas Becker is looking for any excuse to improve his standing in the polls, especially after yesterday."

She pulled the portable telecom that was on the table closer to her and keyed in a code before turning the screen for Duo to watch a news story. He didn't recognize the man standing with a journalist, but a ticker on the bottom of the screen identified him as Andreas Becker's opponent in the election next month. Duo didn't bother with learning anything about the candidates because, as a convict, he wouldn't be allowed to vote anyway. In the background he saw the tower where he had lived with Ellie and Mia in Sector 13. Because he hadn't seen the news crew when he came home from work, Duo guessed the story had been done earlier in the day.

"This is a disgrace," said Hannibal Grey, indicating the people leaving the tower in an exodus. "Almost five hundred people are being forced from their homes because the Phoenix Group wants to knock down this building. And for what reason? Do we even know what the Phoenix Group is planning to do to Sector 13?"

"Your opponent claims that the Phoenix Group will make Sector 13 a viable part of the colony again after so many years draining the hard-earned money of citizens in surrounding sectors," remarked the journalist.

"Of course, he would say that! His fiancée, Hilde Schbeiker, represents the Phoenix Group. Her efforts have resulted in destroying the lives of hundreds of people. Her disregard for the men, women and children that lived in this tower is proof of her scorn for anybody not a part of the Teuton community."

Duo was stunned when the news broadcast played a video clip of a woman with long, dark hair leaving a night club with a well-dressed man that he didn't get a good look at. He barely recognized Hilde. She wore a clingy white dress that accentuated how thin she had gotten in the five years since he had last seen her, and when the camera caught her face, he knew it was her even though he wanted it to be a mistake.

The news report flashed to another one that showed the man she had been with standing outside the enormous colony justice building, and Duo was shocked to recognize the man that had prosecuted his case and sent him to prison.

"What do you have to say, Mr. Becker, about Hannibal Grey's accusation that your fiancée is responsible for driving hundreds of people onto the streets."

The difference between this man and the other was night and day. Hannibal Grey was middle-aged, overweight and wore an ill-fitting suit while Andreas Becker epitomized Teuton society, from his trim, lean body and healthy tanned skin to his impeccably tailored suit. Duo had put the man out of his mind during his years in prison because he was just a government employee doing his job, but now Duo remembered how he had argued so eloquently that he should be made an example of, that no one was above the law. He was just as eloquent now.

"My opponent's claims are ridiculous! My fiancée is merely representing her client to the best of her ability. What the Phoenix Group chooses to do with the properties she helps them acquire is up to the Phoenix Group. Hilde Schbeiker does not have to answer to Hannibal Grey. She donates countless hours in legal defense of men and women who have no one to stand for them in court. That he can accuse her of turning around and causing the same people to lose their homes is nothing short of slander. If I were Hilde, I would demand redress, but I know that she will not because she is a better person than Hannibal Grey."

Madame Chantal flipped off the telecom viewer. "They were in the restaurant a few days ago celebrating her victory for the Phoenix Group," she told Duo.

"They were in here?" Duo was still reeling from finding out that Hilde was going to marry the man responsible for his stay in the dungeon.

"I wasn't aware that you knew her. She must have seen you returning to the workroom and recognized you," Madame Chantal said, watching him carefully for his reaction.

Duo was anxious to hear that Hilde had seen him working, to have witnessed how far he had fallen since the last time they had been together. He could lie and tell Madame Chantal that she only recognized him because of his war record, but there was something about the older woman that made him want to be honest with her. She didn't need to take him and Mia in and yet she did, so he was going to pay her back with honesty. "Hilde and I were involved. We were working and living together when I was arrested."

Madame Chantal's brows drew together. "With all the resources at her disposal, she didn't help you?"

"I don't know why, but she never came to see me, never asked for my side of the story."

"I think I know why," said Madame Chantal who used the telecom to search something on the colony info net. When she found what she was looking for, she flipped the viewer for Duo to see.

There was a picture of Otto Schbeiker with a headline announcing his sudden death. When Duo checked the date, he was stunned to realize it was the very night he had dined with her parents, the night before his arrest. He skimmed the article which had little to say about the cause of death, but Duo would be surprised if it was health related because the man didn't appear sick and he couldn't have been more than forty-five years old.

"The story doesn't say how he died," he said aloud.

"Teuton obituaries rarely do," Madame Chantal told him. "They don't admit to the frailties the rest of us suffer, heart disease, alcoholism, or depression leading to suicide."

Duo met her gaze. "I spoke to him that night. We had a drink together. He didn't seem suicidal. He even suggested we get together again."

Madame Chantel's eyes widened in surprise. "You spoke to him? What did you discuss?"

He thought it odd that she seemed eager to hear about their conversation, but he recounted what he remembered finishing with the remark he had found odd. "He told me that he would be proud to call me his son." Duo snorted derisively. "I think he expected me to offer for Hilde, but since then I know how ridiculous that would have been. I'm not from the right sector."

She put a hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly. "Duo, you have learned the lesson we have all had to learn on this colony. We live and die at the whims of the descendants of the Teuton Knights. I suspect that at the end, Otto Schbeiker learned the same lesson."


	8. Chapter 7

**SEVEN**

Three days had passed since the night Andreas had put his ring on Hilde's finger, and while she had appeared with him in public for publicity events arranged by Kurt Vogel, he had not visited her privately since threatening her. After escorting her to the door of her apartment where she had been dreading spending the night with him, he did not even kiss her after opening the door for her and all but pushing her inside. Hilde was too shaken to feel upset. In fact, she was relieved to not have to lie next to him in her bed because she wouldn't have been able to sleep, and she needed rest because she would be spending most of the following day in court. Her anti-anxiety medication and a sleeping pill before going to bed made her feel groggy when she was with her clients, but she was sure she had done all that she could in defending two prostitutes, a petty larceny and two vagrancy charges that she argued down to reduced sentences, one year in prison instead of two to three years.

In public, Andreas was attentive and appeared to be everything a woman would want in a man, but once they were alone, he turned his attention away from Hilde. Usually he brought Kurt Vogel into the car with them so that they could discuss campaign strategy and she found that she preferred having the buffer between them. When the Phoenix Group forced out the tenants of the remaining property in Sector 13, Andreas and Kurt were busy repairing the damage to his campaign from her involvement with the property investors. Fortunately, they were able to use her pro bono work to cleanse the negative press. Andreas had remarked it was the only good aspect of her work with those clients, and Hilde was afraid that people would view it as a campaign stunt when she had been doing it since joining the law firm where her father and Werner Richter had been partners.

Today she had been invited to a garden party at the Richter home. In conjunction with the charity events organized by the Winner Foundation, Lina Richter was hosting the affair which would be attended by the wealthiest women of the Teuton community. She was wearing a knee-length pale green chiffon dress that had been provided by a designer eager to have his creation seen at the prestigious gathering. The wide-brimmed matching hat was adorned with real pink and white roses that resembled the embroidery on her white gloves. Five years ago, she would have scoffed at the women who attended these get togethers, but today she blended in with the other women entering the mansion and dropping off their elaborately decorated checks for the charity they were supporting.

Although she was greeting another woman, an elderly Teuton matron, Lina finished quickly and came to give Hilde a hug and kisses on both cheeks before stepping back to look at her. "You look lovely today, Hilde. Your mother sent a check along with her regrets."

That was one problem she would not have to deal with that day. "Did she give a reason?"

Lina shrugged. "I don't remember because I didn't believe her." She smiled at Hilde and hooked her arm around hers. "Let's not question our good fortune. Come into the garden. We have some special guests today that I am sure will delight you."

Hilde couldn't imagine who might delight her until she saw that many of the society women were clustered around a couple of women standing together that she recognized. Dorothy Catalonia and Relena Darlian. Hilde didn't know either of them well, but she was acquainted with them both. When she approached them with Lina, the Vice Foreign Minister was the first to break away to move forward to greet her.

Relena Darlian took her hands and squeezed them. "Hilde Schbeiker! I haven't seen you in so many years!"

Hilde felt uncomfortable with the other women looking at her with envy. "I have seen you in the news reports," Hilde said with a forced smile.

"We've seen you in the news reports also," remarked Dorothy Catalonia as she came to greet her. She smiled as she clasped her hands. "Not all of it has been negative."

"Dorothy!" scolded Relena with a frown at the other woman before looking back at Hilde. "I've heard such positive things about what you have been doing, Hilde. Your work helping the underprivileged caught in the justice system is commendable."

The murmurs of agreement from the other women couldn't be any less sincere, but Relena ignored them. "I hope we will have a chance to talk later."

"And that is my cue," said Lina. "If you will all follow me, I have Professor Wilhelm Goren from the department of horticulture as my special guest to take you on a tour of my garden where I have endeavored to nurture some of the rarest species of flowers from Earth as well as some common, yet very beautiful varieties."

Relena moved away to join Lina with the gray-haired flower specialist, but Hilde fell back, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself. She was surprised and a little irritated that Dorothy Catalonia had fallen into step beside her.

"I've already been through the garden," she told Hilde. "It's spectacular for a colony garden. She must import the insects necessary to maintain it as well as tons of nutrient rich soil."

"She can afford it," Hilde responded.

"Yes, I can see by our surroundings that she can. Lina Richter comes from the Jaeger family, does she not? Her grandfather was Horst Jaeger whose company was responsible for much of the designs and technical expertise that went into building this colony and L1 until his work passed along to his son."

Hilde raised a brow. "You seem to know a lot about her family. Are you still working for the Preventers, and is there some reason you are investigating her?"

The other woman laughed. "You don't keep up on the news, do you? I am busy with my charitable work and my husband and children. I don't have time to work for the Preventers." Something caught her attention. "Oh! That is a lovely flower." When she moved off the path, Hilde followed her, curious about what kind of flower would attract the attention of a woman as wealthy as Dorothy Catalonia.

But once they were off the path, Dorothy stepped aside, and Hilde stopped short before she ran into a man waiting in a shrouded part of the garden. "Heero Yuy!" she gasped, unable to restrain her surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Inspecting the plants that do well in shaded areas, it would appear," remarked Dorothy.

Heero raised his eyebrow at Dorothy who raised her own in response, and then he looked at Hilde. "I am in charge of Relena Darlian's security."

"I doubt she has anything to worry about here," said Hilde, "unless you intend to prevent her from a random bee attack."

Dorothy laughed softly. "I would love to see him diving in front of the Vice Foreign Minister to take a bee sting meant for her."

Heero stared at Dorothy silently for a moment before she shrugged and moved away. Hilde would have followed her, but he stopped her. "I would like to talk to you, Miss Schbeiker."

Hilde looked at him. His expression was unreadable. "When did I become 'Miss Schbeiker'?"

"When I had a chance to investigate your background."

"I'm the same person I was before you investigated. You can call me Hilde. I'll assume that you meant for me to run into you and that you used a wealthy socialite to facilitate this opportunity to talk to me."

"Dorothy has a vested interest in our discussion."

"Oh?" Hilde couldn't imagine why either of them needed to speak to her.

"We are both looking for Duo Maxwell."

Her heart skipped a beat. "I wasn't aware that he was lost."

"Then you know where to find him."

She didn't, but that didn't mean she didn't care where he was. "Why are you looking for him?"

"Isn't his being my friend reason enough?" Heero Yuy didn't want to give up any information he had or he, like she, didn't have any.

"That doesn't explain Dorothy Catalonia's interest," she said.

"She has her reasons and I have mine. Do you know where he is?"

Hilde hesitated, wondering if she could use a different tactic to get him to tell her why he was looking for Duo, but then she reasoned that he had already let her know as much as he was ever going to, that both he and Dorothy Catalonia needed him for something.

"I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him in five years."

Heero scrutinized her for a moment before saying, "I thought it would be easier to find him, given the tracking system your government has for following released convicts, but I was refused access to that information. In my research into the colony, I read that convicts usually end up in the outer sectors, but when I headed to Sector 13, I found a barren wasteland where no one could live."

Her cheeks grew warm although she didn't feel responsible for what the Phoenix Group did with the properties she had acquired for it. "The Phoenix Group is planning a widescale renovation of the sector." At least she hoped it was true but given the half-truths they had told her about making arrangements with the government to provide alternative housing for displaced residents, she was afraid the plans for renovation were lies.

"Many of the former residents of the sector have settled in ventilation tubes," Heero told her, watching her face for her reaction. She didn't know how she should react. Horrified? She was horrified because the enormous, open pipes would be awful places to live. There was no sanitation, no water, no space that could be considered safe from the gangs that reputed to roam the sectors abutting Sector 13.

But she wasn't responsible for their plight. "I will assume that you didn't find Duo Maxwell in the ventilation tubes." Despite her resentment for what had happened between them and especially for the fact that he had gone on with his life by marrying and having a child, she didn't want to imagine him living in the squalid conditions of a ventilation shaft with that wife and child.

"No one in any of the ventilation shafts I visited would admit to knowing him or recognizing the picture I showed them." He added, "It was the most recent photograph, from his arrest."

"I don't know anything about that either," Hilde told him.

"You were living with him," Heero stated, no hint of judgement in his voice. "I understand why you didn't show up to speak in his defense at the trial."

"I ... I couldn't. I wasn't well. My father ..." Hilde pushed back the memories of her father's death, but the feelings associated with it overwhelmed her and she fumbled with the clasp of her handbag before she was able to wrench it open. She reached inside for the decorative pillbox that held her medication. She had already taken one before leaving for the garden party, but she needed one now.

The pillbox slipped from her gloved fingers and fell to the flagstones where the ceramic container broke, spilling out a handful of pills. She started to struggle with her gloves so she could pick them up, but Heero bent and carefully collected the pills which he handed to her.

"I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories for you," he said sympathetically. As she put one pill on her tongue and slipped the rest back in her handbag, he produced a bottle of water which made her wonder how long he had been laying in wait to ambush her with his questions.

She swallowed the pill and returned the bottle to him. "Do you have any more questions for me, Mr. Yuy?"

He raised a brow then said, "Not at the moment, Miss Schbeiker." He reached inside his jacket pocket and withdrew an embossed business card with a number scribbled on it. "This is my number at the hotel," he told her. "If you should find out any information about Duo Maxwell, I would appreciate you either contacting me, or if you happen to see him, pass along my card. The Vice Foreign Minister's delegation will be on L2 for at least two weeks."

Her hand was shaking when she took the card from him to slip into her handbag. She debated telling him that she thought she had seen Duo at Le Beau Papillon and decided against it. Enough time had passed that she realized she had imagined seeing him after having thought about him so recently.

Then she remembered her conversation with Triton Bloom. "I happened to meet Triton Bloom at a nightclub recently."

"Le Beau Papillon? Yes, he mentioned it, and he told me about his encounter with Maxwell after his circus performance. That was what led me to Sector 13. Given his description of Maxwell and especially of the child, I thought he might be living in extremely reduced circumstances."

"The condition of the child?" Hilde didn't want to hear about Duo's daughter, but something drove her to ask anyway.

"They were both wearing clothing that probably hadn't been properly laundered in months, and the girl's dress was worn and too small, the same as her shoes. Triton told me that Duo acted nervous which seemed to affect his daughter. That's not the Duo Maxwell I remember."

Hilde pursed her lips and then said, "He was in prison for five years. You can't expect he'd come away from the experience without changing."

"I suppose not, but hearing that made me want to get him away from this colony even more."

"You won't be able to do it," Hilde told him. "He will be unable to leave the colony until the period of his probation equal to the length of his imprisonment has passed."

Heero didn't respond, so she nodded to him. "I will be in touch, Mr. Yuy, if I hear from him. If nothing else, I am sure he would appreciate hearing from a friend that cares so much about him."

As she walked away, she caught a glimpse of Dorothy Catalonia moving from behind some foliage to join Heero Yuy. If she weren't disturbed by her discussion with him, she might have laughed to see the wealthy noblewoman sneaking around in the bushes. Instead, she took a few steps and then paused and strained to listen to what they might say.

"Do you think she was lying?" asked Dorothy.

"For what reason?"

"I doubt her boyfriend wants her reconnecting with a man from her past. That wouldn't go over well in the polls. I can see the headlines now. Teuton heiress caught in scandalous affair with lowlife outer sector convict."

Hilde winced as she thought about how Andreas would react to her having any contact with Duo Maxwell, especially after how he had threatened her even though she was only acquainted with Triton Bloom.

"We know he was in a ventilation tube only a few days ago."

"Are you sure _I_ wasn't in the ventilation tube shooting up marauding gang members and dropping their bodies into the shaft to get caught up in the fan? After all, the bullets matched my gun."

Hilde had read that sanitation workers had found the bodies when they responded to a malfunction of the ventilation in Sector 10. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time. She might have found it more interesting if not downright salacious to discover that the bullets that killed the men came from Dorothy Catalonia's gun, but she couldn't imagine how that could be true.

"Maybe you shouldn't have given your gun to Duo Maxwell."

"I didn't expect him to go all out vigilante," snapped Dorothy.

"I'm sure he was protecting his wife and child," argued Heero.

"Either way, I didn't appreciate having the colony police meet me at the docking bay to question me before I could even get off the shuttle."

Hilde moved away, her heart racing as she thought about the trouble Duo would be in if the authorities discovered he had a gun. There was absolutely no tolerance for firearms violations. He would be put in prison for the rest of his life, and while she was still angry at him for ruining what they had together, she wouldn't wish such a fate on him.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to sit with the society women as she worried about a man she couldn't even locate if she tried, given that a man with Heero Yuy's talents couldn't, she headed back into the Richter mansion where she found the butler to ask him to locate her driver to bring the car around. As she was waiting in the foyer that was lavishly decorated with flowers from the garden, she saw a door down one of the connecting hallways open and Kurt Vogel exit. She knew he was leaving Werner's study, so she wondered if Andreas was meeting with his powerful backer, and she was about to wave to get his attention, but Kurt quickly walked away in the opposite direction.

The door opened again, and this time Werner stepped out, and he looked perturbed until he turned his head in her direction. His face relaxed and he smiled as he came to her. "Hilde! I asked Lina to invite you to stay for dinner so that I could see you. You're not leaving already, are you?"

"I'm not feeling well," she told him honestly.

"Have you taken your medication?"

The pill had hardly taken the edge off her nerves. "I have. I think I need some rest."

"Of course. You have been very busy lately, and now being so newly engaged, you have a lot of things on your mind. Have you seen your doctor lately?"

He didn't mean her medical doctor and they both knew it. Since her father's death, she had spent countless hours in therapy with a psychiatrist who made so much money from treating her that he probably didn't need to see any other patients. "I saw Dr. Kroeger last week. Perhaps I should make an appointment."

"Nonsense! I'll take you over to see him myself."

He didn't give her a chance to decline. After telling the butler to inform his wife where he was going, he put his arm around Hilde's shoulders and walked her out of the mansion to where her car was waiting. "You don't need to do this," she protested.

"I want to do this." After the driver opened the door, he helped her inside the back and then joined her. He waited until they were moving away from the mansion before speaking. "Lina will understand why you hurried away without speaking to her when I explain."

Hilde clasped her gloved hands in her lap. "I suppose seeing people from my past brought up memories that I would rather forget." She didn't understand why tears were gathering in her eyes. She had put that past behind her, especially her past with Duo Maxwell.

The older man put his arm around her shoulders and drew her against him. She felt guilty for staining his silk jacket with her tears, but she needed to cry and there wasn't anybody she could turn to. Werner had always been there for her, when her father was alive and aloof, on the night of his death, and especially since then. As he held her now, he murmured words of comfort even though he didn't know why she was so upset. In the past few days, so much had set her on edge, not the least of which was Andreas' proposal and subsequent belligerence.

When the tears had subsided, Werner offered her his handkerchief and as she wiped away the mess she had made of her face, he remarked, "Andreas hasn't been spending enough time with you."

"I saw Kurt Vogel leaving your study," Hilde said. "I thought Andreas might be conferring with you."

Werner didn't respond immediately, and his measured words when he did made Hilde suspect that he was lying. "I was arranging an upcoming event that Andreas and I could attend together."

She stared down at her hands for a moment and then she admitted, "I would rather not spend more time with Andreas than necessary."

By the tensing of his body, she new he was surprised, but he squeezed her gently and she looked up at his face. He was genuinely concerned. "I thought you could be happy with him."

Hilde needed to tell someone about what had happened after leaving the nightclub, and since he was like a father to her, she told him everything from the time Triton Bloom had left her off at the table to what Andreas had said and done to her in the car. He had even left bruises on her arms which were still faintly visible.

When Werner saw them, his nostrils flared with anger and his body was rigid, but he said, "I will discuss the matter with Andreas. He surely knows that you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize your relationship."

The car came to a stop, and Werner helped Hilde from the car. They were at the parking lot behind Dr. Kroeger's practice to avoid being seen by anyone that might recognize her.

Hilde didn't want to go in, so she turned to look at Werner. "I feel much better after talking to you."

"You should discuss these things with Dr. Kroeger too. He is only trying to help you, Hilde." She considered digging in her heels to impede their progress to the back door, but she knew that would be childish, so she willingly allowed Werner to accompany her.

They didn't have to ring the bell because the door opened. Dr. Kroeger's nurse explained that the doctor was finishing with another patient and that he would see her as soon as the patient had gone. She took Hilde and Werner to a private waiting area where they remained only a moment before the middle-aged psychiatrist came to meet them.

"Hilde! I wasn't expecting you until next week. Come into my office."

She knew the way. She'd been seeing him regularly for five years.

"Mr. Richter, will you be staying?"

If she talked to Dr. Kroeger about Duo Maxwell, she didn't want Werner to hear what she had to say.

To her relief, he shook his head. "I just wanted to make sure she was settled with you before leaving because she was very distraught this afternoon. I have some urgent business I need to take care of."

Having already reclined on the couch Dr. Kroeger used for therapy, Hilde sat up to look at Werner. "You didn't have to bring me here if you had something you needed to do."

He sat beside her and put his arms around her to draw her close. "Lina and I couldn't have children, Hilde. You are ... are the daughter I could never have. I'll be there for you whenever you need me."

She was comforted to know he felt for her the same way she felt about him. "And you are the only father that has ever shown me affection."

Werner held her for a moment longer, then he rose and headed to the door. Dr. Kroeger stepped out with him for a moment and she could hear them talking but couldn't make out their words. She laid back on the couch and stared at the stucco pattern on the ceiling until Dr. Kroeger returned carrying a syringe.

"This will relax you," he told her.

She knew that it would, so she didn't protest although she flinched when he injected the sedative into a vein. Soon she felt as if she were adrift on the sea and she closed her eyes as she released a deep sigh.

"Now, my dear, let's talk about what happened the night your father died," she heard Dr. Kroeger's voice say from far away.

And she started to talk, telling him what he wanted to hear.


	9. Chapter 8

**EIGHT**

The restaurant was closed to patrons that day because the hotel across the street had contracted with Le Beau Papillon to provide the refreshments for the fundraiser gala hosted by the Winner Foundation. Carbuncle brought everyone out from the backroom to help with preparing the meals for hundreds of people, so Duo spent the day, along with everyone else, listening to him shouting orders. For once Duo didn't balk at his high-handed behavior, not just because of the kindness the chef had shown since helping him that morning over a week ago when he arrived for work carrying Mia and his few belongings after losing the place he called home. He saw the man in a new light now. Carbuncle – Duo probably wasn't going to think of him as Rogelio – wanted to do the best job that he could for Madame Chantal because she had helped him when he desperately needed it, so he wanted to make everything perfect for her.

Most of the kitchen staff, dressed in stiff, white uniforms, had been sent to the hotel to serve the meal, but Duo didn't join them, partly because he needed to stay back with Mia, but mostly because he didn't want to be recognized by people he knew would be in attendance. There was a set of steps leading to the roof of the hotel where he shared drinks a few times with Madame Chantal in the evening after Mia had gone to bed. From there, yesterday afternoon, he had watched when Quatre Winner arrived to check in at the hotel. His motorcade was even larger than the one that had brought the Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian, earlier that same day. Duo hadn't stayed to watch her because he knew that Heero Yuy would be with her and his eagle eyes would probably spy him on the roof.

Crouching behind one of the large ventilation turbines, Duo had watched Quatre Winner exit his limousine, then reach inside. He expected to see Dorothy Catalonia take his hand, but he drew out a little girl wearing what appeared to be a mismatched set of pajamas and a cowboy hat on her blonde head. Duo had never seen Jamila Winner, the little girl that had caused so much misunderstanding between her parents, but studying her now as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet tugging insistently at her father's jacket, he wondered how nobody could see Dorothy Catalonia in that little girl's face. Her father reached into the car again, and this time when he leaned back, he tucked an infant under his arm and had offered his hand to his wife.

Seeing Dorothy made him think of her gun which he had hidden in an air vent in the room he shared with Mia. Her presence on the colony for the charity event was the perfect opportunity for him to return her gun. He had seen the news story about the workers finding the bodies of the men he had killed in the ventilation shaft and knew that they would match the bullets to Dorothy's gun. He also knew that Dorothy wouldn't rat him out. Helping her meant violating several terms of his probation and she knew it. A smart woman like Dorothy would figure out a way to explain how she managed to lose her gun, and she would be able to get it off the colony after he returned it to her. He wrote a brief note asking Dorothy to meet him at a park several blocks away on the following day, and he sent it with one of the waitresses, asking her to leave it at the desk for her. When she raised a brow in surprise, he explained that he knew her from his time with the Preventers, so she agreed to take it.

After finishing with cleanup while the others were working at the hotel, Duo had the evening off and he intended to spend it with Mia. Since coming to live with Madame Chantal, Mia saw more of him because he spent his break time from work with her. During the day she was never alone because either he, Madame Chantal, Carbuncle or any of the staff on break was there to watch her. Madame Chantal suggested hiring the sister of one of the waitresses as a nanny, but Mia was terrified by the prospect of having a nanny. Duo tried to get her to tell him why, but she would only confide in Madame Chantal. Neither he nor Madame Chantal knew how, but Ellie had once been able to afford a nice apartment and the services of a nanny, and that nanny had mistreated Mia shortly before Ellie lost the apartment. Duo guessed that she was working the same angle on another man that she was on him, and the other man discovered that Mia wasn't his. If she had a comfortable life with that other man, he understood why she resented Duo for being Mia's father. That didn't mean he forgave her for how she had treated his daughter.

Duo hadn't seen Ellie since the day she left with Robert Cameron, but one of the waitresses did report that she hadn't started working in that nightclub in Sector 4. He doubted she even had the job lined up and suspected that she was providing the wealthy businessman with services for which she had plenty of experience. Duo didn't care because he was glad to be rid of Mia's mother. He wished that Mia would forget about her soon because she asked several times a day when her mama would come home, and he didn't like lying to her. Duo thought about telling her she was dead, but Mia would be confused if Ellie showed up one day. The odds of that happening now that she had a rich man to take care of her were slim.

After sharing the evening meal with Mia, Teddy and Miss Pinky, Duo gave her a bath, then dressed her in a soft nightgown and tucked her into bed. Madame Chantal wanted to buy her new clothing, but Duo refused to allow her. He did, however, accept the donations that a few of the waitresses had given him of clothing that either their own children or their siblings had outgrown. Duo was saving the money he earned because he wanted to be able to pay for pre-school where she could spend time with other children. Now that he was back in the kitchen, he would be making more money. He would share in the tips earned at the Winner Foundation ball because he had helped prepared the meal. Duo knew that Quatre Winner was a big tipper, so he was looking forward to the boost to his income.

Mia fell asleep during his bedtime story, and having nothing else to do, Duo headed up to the roof where he could watch the guests arriving for the Winner Foundation gala. He told himself that he wasn't watching for Hilde Schbeiker, but it wasn't true. Seeing her with Andreas Becker was going to cause him pain, and yet he eagerly watched for their arrival. He had been hurt and confused when Hilde had abandoned him after the colony police showed up to arrest him. Her father's death must have affected her terribly and he wished he knew why. She had made it clear that she had no affection for him because he showed none for her. What had happened to change her feelings? How had he died? Why did she decide to follow in his footsteps when she had rejected the society in which she had been raised? Duo wondered if he would ever know the answers to those and many other questions he had pondered during five years in prison without hearing from her.

Among the guests crossing the red carpet to the hotel, Duo was surprised to see Ellie with the man who had been waiting for her outside the tower. She was wearing a long, clingy white dress with diamonds around her neck. Duo would say she looked beautiful if he didn't know how rotten she was inside. He assumed her escort was Robert Cameron and Duo wondered how she had persuaded him to take her to the affair. Cameron wasn't a member of the Teuton community, but he had somehow managed to break through their barriers to make the kind of money necessary to move in their circles. The donation to attend the event was so enormous that Madame Chantal commented that even she could not afford it. Duo dared to hope that Ellie would convince Cameron to marry her so that they could get a fake divorce and he could get his military benefits back. But knowing Ellie, she would continue to take his money just to spite him.

By the sudden frenzy of movements that the photographers made in another direction, Duo knew that Andreas Becker had arrived. He was among a group that included Hilde and her mother, an older couple that Duo didn't recognize, and another man Duo had seen in the background of news reports about Becker. The photographers crowding the group seemed to bother Hilde and the older man went to slip his arm around her shoulders to escort her away from the journalists who were shouting questions to her fiancé. Hilde was wearing a sparkling black floor length gown that left the entirety of her back exposed and dipped low in the front. She glittered with jewels, clipped in her hair which she had swept up, in her ears, around her neck and on her wrists. Not that she was any more decked out than the other women in her party, but the Hilde that Duo had known would never have dressed like that.

The Hilde that Duo knew would have reacted negatively to the man that left the reporters behind to catch up to her, putting his hand low on her bare back, his fingers slipping beneath the edge of her gown and sliding up to her ribs. She did not even react even though Duo was disgusted by the possessive display. Men like Andreas Becker saw women as objects and he was proving that she belonged to him. Duo's Hilde would have shoved him away with a well-placed knee to the crotch. Who was this woman he was looking at now? She was like a ghost of her former self.

Watching him stroke her skin as they waited to enter the hotel was too much for Duo when it made him think about them doing the things that he had done with her. He pushed away from the ventilation turbine where he had been hiding, Duo was going to return to Madame Chantal's apartment, find some liquor and get drunk, but he noticed movement on the roof of the hotel. Instinct made him duck behind the turbine again, but this time he scanned the roof where he was sure he had seen something suspicious. There were a couple of hotel security guards stationed on the roof and Duo wondered if they had seen him, but they appeared to be as busy watching the arrivals as he had been. Suddenly a dark form crept up behind one and he was still falling to the ground, his throat slit before the form was scurrying to the other. Even if Duo shouted out to warn the man, he wouldn't be heard over the noise from the street below.

Not knowing what the killer intended, Duo did know that he was the only one who had any chance of stopping him. He dashed across the roof and nearly fell down the stairs in his haste to get to the gun he had hidden. He was hampered by having to move quietly so he didn't wake Mia, but he managed to get the gun without making too much noise. He walked calmly and quietly through the room, then charged back up the steps.

Worried that the killer had slipped into the hotel from the roof, Duo was surprised to find the man near the edge. In his hands he held a high-powered rifle that he was pointing down at the red carpet where Duo saw that Andreas Becker and his group had not yet entered the hotel. Fearing for Hilde's safety, Duo raised the gun in his hand and took careful aim. He only had one bullet left, so he had to make it count. The killer was lining up his target through his scope, but he didn't have a chance to pull the trigger before a red dot appeared in the middle of his forehead and he slumped forward over his rifle. Duo watched anxiously for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest almost not believing that he had not missed. But he didn't have more than a moment to reflect on what he had just done because there were shouts and he saw Preventer agents pouring onto the roof, probably alerted when the hotel guards stationed there did not check in.

Tucking the gun behind him, Duo dropped to a crouch behind the turbine and after a moment he peered around the side to see a man that he knew well. Wearing a tuxedo, Heero Yuy was squatting beside the man Duo had killed, carefully examining the body. Before he could investigate for long, colony police arrived, and Duo watched as a territorial pissing match ensued between the Preventers and the police before Heero gave up and left the police to investigate. When he was sure he wouldn't be seen, Duo crept across the roof and hurried down the steps.

After returning the gun to its hiding place, Duo alternated between pacing the living room and stopping to check for any report on the info net about what had happened on the roof of the hotel during the charity gala. There was nothing in the news, and when Madame Chantal returned in the early hours of the morning and was surprised to find him awake, he thought she might say something about the presence of the police, but the only thing she had to say about the gala was that it had been a success for the restaurant and that Quatre Winner had personally presented them with an enormous gratuity. Duo didn't know what to make of the silence about what had happened on the roof of the hotel. He was sure that the killer was planning to assassinate Andreas Becker and he couldn't imagine a man like Becker not using the incident for political gain.

The restaurant was closed the following day because most the staff wouldn't have had much of a chance to rest after working nearly until sunrise. Duo helped with cleanup, and when that was done, he told Madame Chantal that he was going to take Mia to a nearby park. She told him it was a good idea, especially since she was going to rest most of the day and didn't want Mia to have to be quiet for her. Duo didn't point out the Mia was usually reserved, that her most rambunctious would be considered good behavior for another child. Before he left, Madame Chantal reminded him that Rogelio was going to come in to the restaurant specifically to teach Duo how to make one of his signature soups, so he shouldn't be gone more than a couple of hours.

Duo and Mia walked to the park that was several blocks away, and when they arrived to find dozens of children climbing on the equipment, screeching as they chased each other, Mia held Duo's hand tighter and crushed Teddy and Miss Pinky to her. Duo looked around the park and saw the couple he had come there to meet sitting on a bench at the far end in the shade of a tree with bushes behind them. None of the shrubbery was real - that was reserved for the Teuton sectors of the colony – but it made the park look like any park on Earth.

There was a stroller beside the bench where Dorothy and Quatre sat watching their daughter trying to do a handstand. The little girl was wearing what appeared to be a tutu over a pair of pants that looked like the bottom of a costume of some sort of animal. Duo had a hard time believing Dorothy would let her daughter out in public wearing such an outfit, but she was watching her with an indulgent smile.

As he drew nearer, Dorothy saw him first and the look on her face was anything but welcoming. Quatre noticed that her attention had been drawn away and he looked towards Duo also. He didn't look any friendlier, and Duo wondered if it was because of what he had done with Dorothy's gun or whether he was still smarting because Duo had helped Dorothy run away from him.

They probably would have lain into him if they didn't have children with them. Duo hadn't brought Mia as a buffer any more than Dorothy and Quatre had brought their children for the same reason, but they served as one anyway.

Quatre rose from the bench and moved around his daughter who had fallen on her backside and was swiping her blond hair from her face. He held out his hand and Duo wondered if he should put the gun in it or whether he should shake his hand. He decided to shake his hand.

"Maxwell. Under other circumstances I'd say it was nice to see you again."

"I might say the same under other circumstances." Mia had moved closer to him although she was watching Quatre's daughter curiously. "This is my daughter, Mia."

Quatre turned and held out his hand to his daughter which she took after doing a somersault that had Mia's eyes widening. "This bear princess is my daughter, Jamila."

"Don't be silly, papa! I am a gorilla princess."

"You are wearing the bottom of a bear costume," pointed out Dorothy with a sigh.

"Because you wouldn't get me the gorilla costume!"

Duo couldn't keep from smiling at Dorothy's annoyance.

"Jamila, say hello to Mia," she ordered her daughter.

Jamila went to stand before Mia and she made a charming curtsey. "Hello, Mia."

Duo thought for a moment that Mia wouldn't say anything, but then she said, "Would you like to meet Teddy and Miss Pinky?" She released Duo and thrust the toys out before her.

"Ooh! How do you do, Teddy and Miss Pinky?" Jamila curtseyed to them before turning to look at her mother. "Mama, can I show Mia the fish in the pond?"

Before Dorothy could respond, Jamila seized Mia's hand and tried to tug her away, but Mia resisted. She looked up at Duo. "Can I go, papa?"

He was so overwhelmed with joy that she wanted to play with another child that all he could do was nod. Duo watched with a lump in his throat as Mia handed Miss Pinky over to Jamila and the two girls ran away holding hands towards a fountain pool into which other children were peering.

"They're not going off to university together," remarked Dorothy with amusement.

Duo sighed. "Mia doesn't have friends."

"You're lucky you still do," said Quatre as he returned to the bench to sit beside Dorothy.

Remembering the purpose of their visit, Duo stepped forward and he reached behind to take the gun from the waistband of his pants, but he suddenly found his wrist seized and his arm wrenched upward as the gun was yanked away.

"I'll take that," a deep voice said into his ear and he knew that the man causing him no small amount of pain was Heero Yuy.

Duo looked ahead at Dorothy. "Why would you turn me in after what I did for you?"

Heero released him and shoved him forward. "She didn't turn you in."

Duo rubbed his arm and turned around to look at Heero. He wasn't dressed in his Preventer uniform but was wearing dark pants and a dark leather jacket. "Before you take me in, I have a request to make of Dorothy Catalonia." He looked at her. "You owe me."

"I certainly don't," muttered Quatre, and Duo knew that he resented him for helping Dorothy outrun him.

Dorothy laughed and rubbed her husband's thigh. "You know you enjoyed the chase. It gave you a chance to bond with Heero."

Heero's brows rose, but he didn't say anything. Duo suspected there was a good story behind that remark, but he would never have a chance to hear it as he spent the rest of his life in prison.

"As for you, Maxwell, I think I paid my debt to you by lending you my gun so you could shoot up the colony with it. By my count, you didn't leave any bullets."

"I didn't waste any," he pointed out. "And I didn't need to hold it for you in the first place. If I'm going back to the dungeon, I'm never getting out now. The least you could do is make sure my daughter doesn't get put in an orphanage."

Dorothy stood and reached out to put her hand on Duo's shoulder. "I'll take good care of her, Duo, and I might even bring her to visit you. She'll never want for anything and I'll give her the best education money can buy."

"Cut the crap, Dorothy," said Heero. "Just keep an eye on his daughter while we take a walk."

Heero grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the Winner couple who were smiling at each other as if they had just pulled off a prank. "You mean I am not under arrest?"

"I don't work for this colony," Heero told him.

His remark reminded Duo of what had happened the night before. "I didn't hear anything about the shooting on the roof of the hotel last night. And based on what I heard from ... well..." Duo didn't want to get Madame Chantal in trouble by mentioning her name.

"You mean from Madame Chantal, your employer? I saw you hiding like a rat on the roof of her restaurant, so I asked her about you and when she didn't give you up, I managed to encourage a few of your co-workers to admit to working with you."

"Encouraged?" Duo imagined him threatening to investigate their pasts.

"I should have said that Relena did," he admitted with a frown. "She says I'm too menacing."

"You, menacing?" Duo chuckled and Heero glared at him. "So Relena chatted them up?"

"She is the Vice Foreign Minister. People like your co-workers get over-awed by her if she shows them an interest."

"Is Relena one of your agents now?"

Heero raised a brow. "I wasn't expecting you to be smart-mouthed after hearing about your meeting with Triton Bloom."

Duo blew out his breath. "Damn! I knew talking to him was a mistake. He's working for you, isn't he?"

Heero nodded. "He travels extensively throughout the colonies and Earth, so he sees and hears a lot, and in his line of work, nobody suspects that he is an agent. Although I would like it better if he hadn't become a celebrity."

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Mia and Jamila had left the fishpond to return to Dorothy and Quatre, but Mia didn't seem to notice that Duo was gone because she was bent over the stroller with her new friend admiring the baby. He looked back at Heero.

Before he could speak, Heero asked, "Did you shoot the assassin?"

"Didn't you get the ballistics report?"

"No, but the police beat down Dorothy's door at an ungodly hour to ask her the same questions they already asked about how she had misplaced her gun. She's not happy that her excuses for your actions make her look like a bungling fool and I don't appreciate her behavior reflecting poorly on the Preventers. Now getting the gun off the colony is going to prove problematic."

"Just tuck it in with Miss Relena's lingerie," suggested Duo with a smirk. "I doubt colony police will check her things."

Heero's brows drew together. "I would rather you not mention her lingerie."

Duo snorted at the hint of jealousy in the other man's voice.

"But that's not a bad, if not simplistic, solution to the problem."

"How's she going to feel about having a murder weapon smuggled out with her unmentionables?"

"I'll deal with it."

"Does that mean you are going to wrap her panties around the gun?"

Heero grabbed a handful of his shirt and dragged him forward. "Stop talking about Relena's underclothes."

Duo met his gaze, restraining the urge to laugh. "Not going well with her? I would have thought you guys would be married by now."

Heero released him and Duo straightened his shirt. "I asked her when we were celebrating Dorothy and Quatre's wedding, but she said she didn't think we were ready. I took that to mean that she thought _I_ wasn't ready because since then she's been hinting now that we should."

"Proposing to her at someone else's wedding probably made her think you were doing it because you felt compelled." Duo shook his head. "If you don't watch it, she's going to wake up, open her eyes to get a good look at you and realize she could do better."

"I didn't hunt you down to get relationship advice."

"You didn't hunt me down. I practically gave you an invitation by sending that note to Dorothy." Duo shook his head. "Another stupid mistake. I should have just dropped her gun off at the front desk for her."

"I want you to come back to work for me."

Duo raised his arms so that his tattooed wrists were before Heero's face. "Can't do it. I can't leave the colony for five years. By then I'll be gray-haired and arthritic."

"You'll be thirty."

"Life takes its toll here," Duo said with a sigh, and then he glanced back at Mia before saying, "I couldn't leave Mia. She doesn't have anyone but me." And he didn't have anyone but her.

"What about her mother? When I was here for the trial, you didn't mention anything about her."

"I don't want to talk about her mother. There's nothing between us. She doesn't want to have anything to do with Mia and that's fine by me."

"What I want is for you to work undercover for me here, on L2. There's something rotting on this colony and with your contacts, I'm hoping you can find out what it is."

Duo's brows shot up. "Did you clear this with my probation officer?"

"Don't be a smartass when I am being completely serious. Between the filthy underbelly of the colony and the closed society at the top, there is a lot going on that could threaten the security of the Earth Sphere United Nations. If you haven't been watching the news, I'll inform you that there are two very important positions with the Earth Sphere that are opening on the colony. Colony governor with absolute authority over the colony and colony representative to the Earth Sphere congress. The wrong person filling those positions could open a pipeline of rot that could spread to other colonies and Earth."

"You think I can help? I don't know how. I'm just a salad chopper at a fancy restaurant."

"One that can cap an assassin from a thousand feet in the dark."

"I can't carry a gun and I can't go anywhere without scanners reporting my every move," Duo reminded him.

"Come to the Preventer field office tomorrow in Sector 6. I may have a solution to the problem."

"The authorities will ask why I was there," Duo told him.

Heero gave him a half-smile and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'll tell them that you were visiting with an old friend. And if you need someone to watch your daughter," he nodded his head in the direction of the bench where Dorothy and Quatre were sitting watching Jamila demonstrating a handstand to Mia. Duo hoped Mia didn't try it because she was wearing a dress. "Jamila Winner will be happy to have a playmate while her parents are staying on the colony."

The prospect of taking control of his life again thrilled Duo, but he was anxious because he had more than himself to think about.

"You can't possibly make enough money to live on chopping salads," Heero pointed out, sensing his reluctance.

Duo grimaced as Mia tried to stand on her head, and as her dress fell around her ears, Jamila Winner held her legs. "I can't risk my life when Mia depends on me."

Heero reached into his jacket and withdrew a card that he held out to Duo. "If you change your mind, you can contact me with this number." When Duo didn't take the card, Heero tucked it in his shirt pocket. "The offer stands as long as I am on the colony."

Without another word, he walked away, and Duo returned to Dorothy and Quatre.

"Look what I can do, papa!" Mia did a cartwheel that was anything but graceful, but Duo was delighted.

He was going to tell Mia that they should return to the restaurant, but Jamila grabbed her hand. "Let's go climb!"

The two girls hurried away to join the other children on the playground equipment, and he watched as Jamila guided Mia through the different activities until Dorothy spoke.

"What did you tell Heero?"

He looked at her. "What could I tell him? I can't take the risk that I could leave Mia without her father."

"I understand," Dorothy said with a nod. "She's a charming girl, but I think you may have sheltered her too much."

Duo made a sound of disgust. "What do you know of my circumstances? I haven't had a choice."

Dorothy glanced at his wrists. "It looks like you made a choice."

He wasn't going to explain to her that the charges against him had been fabricated. Dorothy only knew a world far different from the one he lived in. "I need to get back for work. And Mia is probably getting hungry."

"Leave her with us," suggested Quatre who had listened to their exchange without comment. "Jamila is enjoying her company. We'll drop her off when we return to the hotel. If you're worried about her, here's our number." He handed Duo an embossed card.

Duo was anxious about leaving Mia, but he trusted Dorothy and Quatre and he didn't want to deny her the opportunity of playing with other children. He tucked the card in his pocket with Heero's. "I appreciate you offering, and I'm not going to turn you down. I don't take her out often enough."

"Don't get bent out of shape if she ends up with a skinned knee," remarked Quatre. "Jamila has had more than her fair share." He gave his wife a side-long glance. "And the first dozen or so were life or death situations for Dorothy."

She slapped his shoulder. "You weren't any better after leaving her care to nannies."

"I had better get going," said Duo with a smile. "Take care of my daughter." He went first to the playground, and Mia went to meet him, disappointment in her eyes that they were leaving so soon, and when he told her that she could stay with her new friend and that she should behave for Dorothy and Quatre, she thanked him with more restraint than Jamila who whooped with delight.

Duo left the park with a spring in his step. He had gotten rid of the gun and was confident that the recent killings could not be traced back to him, had a boost to his confidence from having Heero Yuy offer him a job, and he had a chance to see Mia happier than he had ever seen her doing things that other children did. He was sure nothing could ruin his day, not even Carbuncle nagging him about his cooking.

But when he returned to Madame Chantal's apartment he found her waiting for him with a message. Ellie had been arrested and she needed him to get her out of jail.


	10. Chapter 9

**NINE**

At first Hilde thought the sound cutting into her sleep was her alarm, but she had turned it off a few hours ago when she got into bed at three in the morning. Her head had been aching when she laid it on her pillow, from the noise of hundreds of conversations competing with the music at the gala, from the champagne she had been drinking, and especially from the effort of keeping a smile plastered on her face when she felt miserable. After all the fawning Andreas had done over her throughout the evening, she wasn't surprised that he stayed the night at her apartment. He remained long enough in her bedroom to perform what she considered perfunctory sex – he hadn't even tried to give her any pleasure, nor did he remove any but the most necessary articles of clothing. His leaving her to sleep in his room had been the best part of the night. She hadn't been too tired to wonder how she was going to tolerate spending the rest of her life with Andreas, and just before falling asleep she had a revelation that her marriage was going to be exactly like that of her parents.

Now she groggily reached out for her alarm clock and realized that it was her phone waking her. There weren't any emergencies in the corporate world, so she suspected she was being contacted by the public defender's office. Hilde realized belatedly that she had forgotten to let them know that she wouldn't be available that day.

Not only had she been distracted by Andreas' campaign, Lina Richter had insisted that she shop for a new dress for the gala with her. Lina had also invited her mother, so that meant visiting several designer studios and spending hours trying on dresses that Lina commented on until she and Hilde had decided on one while her mother got drunk on champagne. Hilde wondered why Lina included her mother when they shopped because the two women made no secret of their enmity towards each other. They were like night and day, and Hilde wished, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, that Lina was her mother. Ingrid Schbeiker couldn't even make it through the gala without embarrassing her daughter by flirting outrageously with Triton Bloom when he came to pay his respects to Hilde. She hoped that the interest he showed in her invitation to the Schbeiker mansion was feigned because Hilde didn't want to imagine the former gundam pilot sharing a hot tub with her mother.

Hilde let the call go to voice mail and buried her head under her pillow, but after a moment of silence, the phone started ringing again. She pounded the mattress in frustration and then reached out for the phone to hear the secretary at the public defender office informing her that her services were needed. A riot in Sector 10 had many of the lawyers in their office busy with the men and women who were arrested in that incident. Her head was aching, her mouth was sour as her stomach churned unpleasantly, and she hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, but she agreed to be there in an hour.

She left her bed, and after popping some pain relievers to take the edge off her hangover, she stayed in the shower longer than usual to let the massaging jets of hot water pelting her body wake her up. By the time she had dressed in a dark, navy blue knee length skirt and matching blazer over a white linen shirt, she was wishing she had asked who she might be defending so she could consider a possible defense.

Carrying a pair of sensibly comfortable black pumps, she headed out of her bedroom to the open kitchen and living room where she was surprised to find not just Andreas, but Kurt standing in the kitchen. They had been talking but stopped abruptly when they saw her.

Andreas filled a cup with coffee, adding flavored creamer and a cube of sugar before coming to meet her. As she took the cup with a murmur of thanks, he leaned in and gave her a kiss that was more sexually charged than their brief encounter the night before. He straightened and looked down at her with a smile that reminded her why she was attracted to him in the first place.

She took a sip of coffee. It was too sweet. In all the time they had been seeing each other, he refused to acknowledge that she preferred black coffee, the darker the better. Noticing that he was dressed in a suit, she remarked, "I thought you were taking the day off." She hadn't looked forward to spending the day with him, but if the old Andreas was back, she wouldn't mind it one bit.

"I've been called into work, if you can believe it." He glanced at Kurt who was watching them both attentively. "There is a high-profile case concerning a wealthy businessman. Kurt thought it would be a good idea to handle it personally to prove to the non-Teuton community that I am equally committed to serving their needs."

"You're going in to work as a prosecutor?" He hadn't been in the courtroom since taking a leave of absence several months ago to work on his campaign.

He nodded. "And you?"

"The public defender's office is backed up. I guess the charity gala inspired some homeless people to riot in Sector 10."

Andreas made a sound of disgust. "Don't they realize that the Winner Foundation is trying to raise money to build adequate housing for them?"

"I suppose they only see rich people having a party." At least that was what Hilde saw even though they had donated a large amount of money.

"We should be going," Kurt told Andreas.

Andreas seemed irritated by his campaign manager's prompting, but he went to Hilde, and taking her coffee to set aside, he drew her into his arms and kissed her. She felt flustered by the attention he was giving her when Kurt was watching them, and when he released her, she gave him a nervous smile.

"Will I see you later?" she asked as he headed to the door with Kurt.

Andreas looked at Kurt who nodded. "We can spend the evening together, just you and me. We don't need to go out."

Hilde was still wondering an hour later as she entered the police station if she should look forward to it or not. It would depend on which Andreas showed up at her door, the considerate man she had been dating for the last four years or the possessive one who was too selfish to put any effort into their relationship. She waited patiently in line at the security check with other men and women, conscious that people were openly staring at her, some even pointing. Since the news stories on her involvement with the Phoenix Group and especially because of her engagement to Andreas, her days of anonymity were over. Fortunately, she had taken medication before leaving her apartment, so she ignored them. Once she had gone through the checkpoint, an intern from the public defender's office caught up to her and handed her a tablet with the information she would need to know for the people she would be defending in arraignment.

Looking at the list, Hilde saw that she would be defending two men facing drug charges, another man arrested for domestic abuse, and a woman accused of grand larceny. She had less than five minutes to meet with the men who were accused of distributing controlled substances, both young and frightened of going to prison. She wasn't going to be able to keep them from that fate, but she hoped she could keep them from serving the full sentence. They had been apprehended by colony police with the drugs and they didn't deny that they had been selling them to earn money so they could afford a place for their families to live.

The judge listened to the prosecutor demand that they be given the maximum sentence after they pled guilty. Hilde argued that the drugs were among the least dangerous of those deemed illegal, and since it was their first offense and they were not denying their guilt, they should be given probation. She doubted the judge would take her recommendation, and he surprised her by giving them six months in a minimum-security prison.

The man accused of beating his wife denied doing it despite evidence to the contrary, so a trial date was set, and Hilde was chagrined to see his badly bruised wife greeting him affectionately after posting his bail.

The morning was nearly over when Hilde left the courtroom to take a break before meeting with the woman facing the larceny charge. She only had enough time to get a cup of coffee from a machine before she went to a small conference room to meet with her client. The woman the guard brought to her must have spent a miserable evening locked up. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was tangled, and she was wearing an evening gown that was torn and soiled. Hilde realized that she must have attended the charity gala. She didn't remember seeing this beautiful woman the previous evening, but then she had spent most of the night surrounded by people she knew. That she would need a public defender surprised Hilde.

"I've been assigned your case," Hilde told her as she sat at the table across from the woman who did not respond. She stared at Hilde, her eyes wide and frightened, and fresh tears spilled over her lashes.

"I haven't done anything wrong," she sobbed as she wiped at her tears.

Hilde looked briefly through the complaint. "You have been accused of stealing a diamond necklace."

"I didn't steal it! Robert gave it to me as a gift." The other woman pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes to stem the flow of tears. Hilde slid a box of tissues across the table to her wishing there was some way to clean her up so she would look more credible. No one would believe a man would give a woman like this a valuable necklace.

Picking up her tablet and activating the link giving her more information about the woman as she tried to compose herself, Hilde hoped that she hadn't been arrested before, so she could ask the judge for leniency. When her public identification record appeared, Hilde suppressed a gasp of surprise. The woman's name was Ellie Maxwell, and she was Duo's wife! She couldn't even breathe as she read what little information there was about her. There was a public record of her marriage to Duo Maxwell dated several months before his arrest. Hilde was shocked that among the other secrets he had kept from her, Duo was married. She realized that he had never even hinted that he considered marriage to her, and at the time she thought it was because they were too young. The truth was that he was already married, and he had been cheating on his wife with her!

Although she wanted to get up and leave, to request that another lawyer take her case, Ellie Maxwell would be standing before a judge in less than a quarter hour, and there wouldn't be enough time to assign another lawyer even if one was available. Instead Hilde continued to read her record which included the birth of her daughter four and a half years ago, father listed as her spouse, the child's name Mia, no middle name given. There were a handful of addresses listed in her file, the last address the recently leveled tower in Sector 13. She also noted Le Beau Papillon listed as her place of employment. That meant it was more than likely that Hilde had seen Duo there and that Madame Chantal had lied to her.

Hilde raised her eyes from looking at her file to her client who looked as if she was on the edge of panic. The voluptuous blond was combing through her long, wavy hair and Hilde tried to imagine her five years ago. When she compared herself to Ellie Maxwell and found herself lacking, she didn't understand why Duo would want her. Was he just stringing her along because of who she was? Did he think she would use her influence to keep him from prison should the police uncover his illegal activities? If so, he must have considered his time with her wasted after he ended up in prison anyway.

Ignoring her personal feelings although it was very difficult, Hilde studied the complaint against Ellie Maxwell. "According to the police report, Robert Cameron lent you a diamond necklace to wear when he escorted you to the charity event at the Grand Embassy Hotel last night." Hilde wanted to ask her what she was doing on a date with another man, but she didn't. If she judged the personal lives of her clients, she wouldn't be able to defend them. "Following the event, Mr. Cameron claims that you and he had an argument and that you left with the necklace."

"He gave the necklace to me as a gift," insisted Ellie, slapping her hands on the table.

A knock at the door kept Hilde from asking her why he would give her such an expensive gift. The door opened, and the guard poked his head inside. "Miss Schbeiker, you have just a few minutes before I need to escort the prisoner to court." He closed the door again to give them privacy.

Ellie rose unsteadily to her feet, her eyes on Hilde, and she knew before she spoke that she knew about her and Duo. " _You_ are Hilde Schbeiker?" Her mocking laughter made Hilde feel even more inadequate. Her cheeks flamed from embarrassment under her scrutiny.

"I don't know what my husband saw in you," she finally said with scorn.

"We don't have time to talk about the past," Hilde pointed out calmly.

"You must have been a good fuck because you're not much to look at."

Hilde took a calming breath and said, "I will argue that you misunderstood Mr. Cameron's intentions for the necklace." She went to the door and knocked on it to let the guard know they were ready to leave.

Ellie drew even to Hilde and she met her gaze. "There was no misunderstanding. Robert meant to give me the gift in exchange for services rendered. You know exactly what I am talking about since you were screwing my husband behind my back. Did you give him gifts, too?"

Had she given Duo gifts? If she had, they hadn't been in the same league as a diamond necklace.

The guard opened the door and Hilde was relieved that Ellie didn't say anything more. As it was, her cheeks still felt warm several minutes later as she stood next to Ellie, mortified to be in this position. She could imagine how Duo's wife felt to have to rely on his former lover to keep her from prison.

And when the prosecutor walked in, the situation became even worse when Hilde saw that it was Andreas Becker.

The judge, an older Teuton that should have retired years ago, and who was obviously bored, perked up and straightened with a snort when he saw Andreas. "Is this a joke? Mr. Becker, you can't possibly be planning to argue a case against your fiancée so soon after putting the ring on her finger."

Aside from a tick in his jaw, Andreas did not show that he was bothered by the judge's remark. "Your honor, I have been asked to personally take care of this matter quickly and quietly. The plaintiff is an upstanding member of the business community who does not want his name dragged through the mud. He became involved with this woman who misrepresented herself, and when he became aware of her circumstances last night, he ended their relationship."

"What circumstances are those?" asked the judge as he turned his attention to the woman standing beside Hilde.

"That she is married and has a child," responded Andreas.

The judge's brows raised. "Miss Schbeiker, what do you have to say on behalf of your client?"

Before Hilde could speak, Ellie blurted, "That is a lie! He knew I was married all along!"

The judge raised his brows. "This should be interesting. Miss Schbeiker, I will assume that your client pleads not guilty."

"I don't need her to tell you that!" exclaimed Ellie. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Hilde ignored her. "She claims that Mr. Cameron gave her the item in question as a gift. If he did not, and it has been returned to him, then perhaps you can rule here and now that it was a misunderstanding and we can avoid wasting the court's time with this matter."

The judge turned his attention back to Andreas. "What do you have to say, Mr. Becker?"

"As you know, your honor, my office has a no tolerance policy for any type of crime and we have no reason not to believe the plaintiff. We will not drop the charges so that this disreputable woman can be free to prey on another man."

Ellie gripped Hilde's arm. "What is he saying?"

Hilde looked at her. "You will have to stand trial."

"But ... but I didn't do anything wrong!" shrieked Ellie furiously. There was a lot that she had done wrong, starting with cheating on her husband with a wealthy man that had the money and power to treat her like garbage when he was through with her.

"I'm not going to prison for something I didn't do!" Ellie was breathing so heavily that her breasts nearly spilled from her torn evening gown which probably drew the attention of every set of male eyes in the courtroom. Even Andreas had been distracted.

The judge cleared his throat. "Counselor, please restrain your client. Now what should we do about bail?" The judge looked at Andreas expectantly. "I assume you have some opinion on that." The judge knew that the prosecutor's office never made a reasonable offer on bail.

"Ellie Maxwell does not have a permanent address," he started.

The judge snorted. "Do I take it to mean that you want to give her a permanent address in a government facility until the trial?"

Ellie leaned forward to give the judge an unimpeded view of what must have attracted Robert Cameron to her in the first place. "Please, your honor, I beg you! Don't let them put me in prison! I don't want to be separated from my daughter!"

Hilde's heart ached to think about Duo's child being deprived of her mother, no matter how terrible a wife she was for cheating on her husband even though he didn't deserve any better. "Your honor, as my client stated, there is a four-year-old child to consider."

"We have child protection centers for such situations," pointed out Andreas.

The judge waved his hand dismissively. "Don't be so hasty, Mr. Becker. We don't need to put her child in an orphanage over this matter. I assume there is a father who can care for her."

"Yes, your honor."

The statement came from behind Hilde and when she turned to see Duo Maxwell standing a few rows back, her heart did a flip in her chest. She turned quickly to face forward, but not before she saw Andreas frowning.

"Your honor," spoke up Andreas. "The defendant's husband is a convict. We cannot leave the care of an innocent child in his hands."

Hilde wanted to speak up, not just for Duo, but for any other parent who had been caught in the justice system, but the judge didn't give her a chance.

"I will assume that he has paid for his crime, and if you don't think he can be trusted to be responsible for his own child, Mr. Becker, then your office can allocate the necessary funds to investigate not just him, but every other convict that has procreated on this colony."

Andreas didn't respond so the judge nodded, and Hilde thought she heard him say, "I thought not," before he announced, "We needn't worry about the fate of her child. And I don't think we need to send this young mother to prison as she waits for her trial. She could be in there for months." Hilde wondered how much Ellie's cleavage had figured into his decision as he reluctantly tore his gaze from it to look beyond her to Duo who had taken his seat again. "Young man, are you willing to post a bond for your wife?"

Duo stood again to answer. "Yes, I am, your honor."

When the judge named a sum that wouldn't even cover a month's rent on Hilde's apartment, Duo winced, and Hilde thought she saw Andreas smirking triumphantly as he looked down at his own tablet believing he had succeeded in putting Ellie Maxwell behind bars.

"Bailiff, escort this rabble from my courtroom and let's have the next case before the media finds out that the most famous newly engaged couple on the colony are opposing each other and my courtroom becomes a circus."

Hilde cleared her throat. "You don't need to worry, your honor. I will not be representing my client after today."

"Damn right, you bitch," Ellie hissed in her ear for only her to hear.

"Represent her until her bail is paid," ordered the judge. "Next case!"

The bailiff escorted them from the courtroom, and once they were in the hall, Ellie waited for her husband standing closer to him than Hilde as she waited for her husband. Andreas exited the courtroom first and he strode past reporters who were so surprised to see him at work that they couldn't scramble soon enough from where they were having donuts and coffee to stop him before courthouse guards prevented them from approaching him.

"Do you have any more cases or are you free for lunch?" he asked Hilde after the briefest glance at her client.

Hilde couldn't think about having lunch with him, especially when she saw Duo heading towards them. He had changed since she had last seen him, but then they were both barely older than teenagers then. Nearly as tall as Andreas, he was still slim, but he had filled out enough that more than one woman turned her head to watch him. He was wearing jeans and a white button shirt over a dark t-shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to show the tattoos he had received from his incarceration, a requirement for entering the courthouse. His hair hadn't changed, and she was surprised that he had been allowed to keep the long braid in prison.

"Where do I pay?" Duo asked abruptly as he came upon them. He didn't look at Hilde, but at the court officer who had accompanied them.

"Do you have enough money to cover bail?" asked Andreas. "The court doesn't take payment on installment."

"I have enough," grumbled Duo before turning on his heel to head in the direction the bailiff indicated to the court clerk whose office was at the end of the corridor.

Hilde noted that he hadn't spoken to his wife, nor had she to him, and when she looked at Ellie, she saw that she was watching Duo anxiously. Hilde shouldn't be wondering what kind of marriage they had and why they thought bringing a child into the situation was a good idea, but she couldn't help it.

To distract herself, she raised her notebook to see that the case had been updated with her plea and a trial date. "Mrs. Maxwell, I will need an address, so a new lawyer can contact you."

"I... I don't know." Seeing her wringing her hands, Hilde followed her gaze to where Duo was paying the cashier. She wondered if Ellie was worrying about how Duo was going to react to what she had done, and she remembered the battered wife she had seen earlier. Hilde wouldn't believe that Duo could do such a thing to his own wife, but Ellie seemed to be worried.

"You don't know?" asked Andreas. "Aren't you planning to live with your husband and child?"

Duo had returned, and he must have heard Andreas. "Of course, she is living with me." He took off his shirt and draped it over Ellie's shoulders, but aside from drawing the edges together after a furtive glance at Andreas, she did not respond.

Hilde reluctantly spoke to Duo. "I will need an address for the record."

"We are living above Le Beau Papillon," Duo told her without meeting her gaze. "I'm sure you know where it is. Her new lawyer can contact her there." He put his arm around his wife's waist. "Let's go. Mia has been asking about you."

As they walked away, Hilde noticed that they did not speak to each other.

"It must have been a shock to see Duo Maxwell," remarked Andreas when they had disappeared around the corner.

She looked at him. "Did you know who you were prosecuting?"

"No. My office contacted me because Robert Cameron made the complaint. He is the financial advisor for many Teuton families. I wanted to avoid as much scandal as possible. I wasn't aware of the defendant's identity or her acquaintance with you until ..."

"There was no acquaintance with me," said Hilde bitterly. She wished she could have had the opportunity to demand answers of Duo. Like why he had lied to her about having a wife.

Andreas didn't speak for a moment and then he said, "If you are finished for the day, we can return to your apartment." She felt his hand low on her back where he rubbed her soothingly. "I think we both need a distraction."

"I'd like that." Hilde wasn't sure if she would or not, but she needed to catch up on her rest. She finished her report and sent a request to be removed from the case citing personal reasons. The public defender's office would probably think her personal reasons had something to do with the campaign. They didn't need to know that Hilde had once been the 'other woman' in the defendant's marriage.

Andreas sent away his car and returned to the apartment with her. As he spoke to Kurt on the car's communication link about a campaign rally in Sector 2 where he had been raised, Hilde stared out the window of the car, not seeing anything that passed. She replayed those few moments of interaction with Duo that day. He hadn't greeted her and had spoken only necessary words. How could he pretend that there had been nothing between them? She had loved him! She had never felt that way for any other man and she never would. All along he had belonged to another woman. She felt like a fool.

After returning to the apartment, Andreas led her to her room where he removed her clothing, and after undressing her and tucking her in bed, he left her to go to his own room. She waited for him to come back, and when he didn't, she climbed out of bed and went down the hall. She might want him because she was hurt by what she had discovered about Duo, but Hilde didn't care. She needed to prove that whatever was between her and Duo was completely over.

He was partially undressed when she walked into his bedroom wearing a dressing gown, and he looked surprised to see her. She didn't speak as she crossed the room to him and laid her hands on his bare chest, raising her face to his for a kiss which he did not hesitate to give. She slid her hands down to work the fastenings of his pants, and he took her down onto the bed with him. She convinced herself that she wanted this and that she enjoyed having sex with him. And Andreas made up for his inconsiderate behavior in recent days. She wasn't sure that she had gotten what she wanted from the encounter because she was thinking about Duo as she fell asleep in the arms of another man.

Waking later, she found that it was dark, and that Andreas was no longer with her. She thought he might have left her apartment, but she could smell cooking food. Hilde put on her dressing gown and walked out to the kitchen to see Andreas sipping wine as a man wearing a white jacket and toque prepared a meal.

Andreas noticed her and after filling another glass with white wine, he met her in the living room with it. "You slept all day," he remarked with a self-satisfied smile.

Hilde took a sip of the wine and looked past him to the kitchen. "I see you ordered in."

"He is nearly finished. We'll have the meal on the balcony." He slipped his arm around her waist and escorted her to the balcony where the patio table was set with an elegant dining service including lighted candles and a vase of at least two dozen red roses.

Hilde turned so that she was in his arms. "This is all so wonderful!"

Andreas brushed her lips with his own. "I know I have been thoughtless lately, and I want to make it up to you."

"You have been under a lot of pressure lately with the campaign, and after what happened in Sector 13, I can understand how you might have resented me for the setback in the polls."

He brushed the hair back from her face and trailed his fingers down to caress her neck. "You know how I feel about you, Hilde. Since the moment your mother introduced us, I knew that we were destined to be together forever."

Before she could respond, to tell him that she was grateful that he had helped her through a dark time in her life, the chef arrived with two plates that he set on the table. He bowed to Andreas, thanked him for the opportunity to serve him, and then he left.

They took their seats and after Andreas had refilled their wine glasses, Hilde asked, "Were did you hire him from?"

"Kurt recommended him. He is an itinerant chef, but make no mistake, he is well worth the fortune I paid for this private dinner."

After tasting the pasta meal that the chef had prepared, Hilde agreed. She was glad that they didn't go out, but she didn't have anything to eat in her apartment because she rarely prepared a meal. She would have been satisfied to order some take-out, but this was much better.

As they ate, they discussed the future, in particular, setting a wedding date, but that discussion did not last long because they couldn't do anything without Kurt who knew Andreas' schedule. Hilde would rather have a small wedding, but Andreas reminded her that both her mother and her surrogate parents, the Richters, would insist that she have a wedding that would not soon be forgotten. There was a cathedral in Sector 1 that many Teuton families attended, and she imagined herself being married there because all families that lived in Sector 1 were married there. She had once dreamed of walking down the long, carpeted aisle flanked on either side above her by tattered banners captured by ancient Teutonic knights. That had been five years ago and the groom wearing a tuxedo with a rose in his lapel had a long braid down his back. She had thought it odd that her father had not escorted her to her future husband, but knew it was because even in her dream he did not approve of Duo and would never give his blessing.

As they left the table after finishing the meal, Hilde said, "I will send a generous tip to the chef."

"You can leave that to me," Andreas responded dismissively. He was too old-fashioned to allow a woman to do what he considered a man's obligation. Hilde wouldn't be surprised if, after they were married, he demanded that she resign her position in the law practice and that she never step foot in a courtroom again.

Once they were in the living room, he released her and went to the large, padded chair that he usually worked from when he was at her apartment. Hilde noted that his laptop was already propped against the leg of a chair, so he must have been working as she slept. Sitting, he picked up the laptop and after opening it he must have remembered her. He gave her an apologetic smile. "I hope you don't mind if I get some work done. I want to go over my speech for tomorrow."

Hilde shrugged. "I have some work of my own to do. I'm sure the office has sent over some briefs." She went to the kitchen and took out a couple of tumblers. "Would you like an after-dinner drink?"

Engrossed in his laptop screen, he did not look up. "I would appreciate it."

After the day she had, she wanted something strong, so she poured herself a glass of scotch, then prepared him a gin and tonic, and after handing him his drink which he took without looking up, she sat on the sofa. Hilde took a drink and then grabbed her tablet from the end table and resting her head on the arm of the sofa, she stretched out and activated the tablet.

She checked her work mail, and finding nothing but belated congratulations on her engagement, she frowned and resolved to speak to the senior partners to remind them that she was not quitting her job just because she was getting married. She had made the firm a lot of money through the Phoenix Group and she thought she should be considered for a partnership. Her father's former partners had readily hired her straight from law school although she suspected Werner Richter's influence had made them take her. If they had bothered to look at her academic record and the high scores she had received on the bar exam, they would have discovered she was qualified for the job. She had been at the firm for two years and had an exemplary record, so she deserved a promotion.

Bored with her mail, Hilde glanced over at Andreas, and seeing him engrossed in his work, she shifted on the couch so that an edge of her dressing gown fell to the side to reveal most of her body. When he still didn't look up, she sighed and turned her attention back to her tablet. Without any conscious thought, she had done a search on the info net on Duo Maxwell. Because of her work with the public defender's office, she had clearance to view his criminal record. Since his release from prison, he hadn't been cited for any violations of his parole, but then she knew that because he would be back in prison in the blink of an eye. Visits to the parole officer were punctual and he had proof of steady employment. A monthly in-depth check that the parole office did of his personal behavior indicated that he had no contact with former criminal associates. The scanners that tracked his movements on the colony through the tattoos on his wrists showed that he was either working at Le Beau Papillon, en route to or from his employment or staying at the apartment in Sector 13 with his wife and child. His parole officer noted that he was polite and respectful, that his behavior was a tribute to the justice system that had truly reformed him.

As she thought about his behavior in court, Hilde realized he was exhibiting practiced restraint. Whether it was for having to come to court to help the wife that was blatantly cheating on him with another man or for trying to save his daughter from the child protection system, a system that had failed him, he knew exactly how to behave. That was very different from the carefree man she thought she had known five years ago.

Hilde researched further into his past, and she realized with a start that she had never looked at the court documents of his trial, a trial that lasted only an afternoon. Duo had pleaded not guilty of the charges of trafficking in stolen goods that he received from his former friends in the outer sectors and then smuggled off the colony among the parts he salvaged for the government. During the trial he repeated his innocence, but evidence surfaced that he was heavily in debt because he was often seen at gambling establishments. Several witnesses were called to testify that he owed money to the associates who used him in their smuggling operation.

Married, gambling, smuggling. Hilde couldn't believe that she had been so thoroughly duped by him. He had been living another life behind her back! Her mother had warned her that she shouldn't trust a nameless bastard from the outer sectors, but she had defended him vehemently. She had been ready to throw away her family and her heritage for him. If she had, where would she be now?

Unwilling to spend even a moment longer thinking about Duo Maxwell, she reached out to press the button to close the document, but when she had scrolled back to the top, she noticed the names of the lawyers handling the case. The public defender that hadn't raised many objections during the trial had gone on to have a lucrative practice in Sector 2, and while that raised her brows considering the man's poor performance in defending Duo, the name of the prosecutor took her breath away.

Hilde raised her head to look at Andreas. He was busy typing at his laptop, probably refining his speech. "I wasn't aware that you were acquainted with Duo Maxwell."

He stopped typing and for a moment he seemed frozen and then he looked up at her. His gaze went first to the shocking amount of skin she was revealing, and then he looked at her face. His expression was controlled. "I am not acquainted with him."

"You sent him to jail," she said without trying to sound accusatory. "Is it just a coincidence that we met through my mother or ..." Hilde was finding it difficult to voice her suspicion that her mother had something to do with Duo's imprisonment. She didn't have the kind of contacts necessary for pulling off such an enormous coverup, and yet Hilde wanted to believe that scenario more than the one where she had an affair with a married man who was gambling and helping criminals.

"Of course it was a coincidence!" he said harshly. "I was assigned the case, I tried it to the best of my ability and won a conviction. I didn't even know that you had anything to do with the man until your mother told me of your involvement with him in confidence after we had been seeing each other for several months. She had discovered our connection through her own thorough investigations of my past. My investigators kept your relationship with him from me so that I did not use it against him. It would have harmed your reputation. I discovered that a great deal of money ended up in their hands."

"My mother bribed the prosecutor's office?" Hilde stared at him incredulously. Andreas Becker had built his own reputation on that of his office, and now she discovered that the prosecutor's office could be bought.

"You make it sound as if there was some insidious plot. She was protecting you when you were emotionally unstable. She was afraid of what would happen if you were dragged into the trial. What would you have done? How would you have reacted to hearing that Duo Maxwell was already married?" When he abruptly closed the laptop, the sound made her anxious, but the look on his face frightened her. "After having discovered what he had done to you, I wished I would have fought to put that man away for the rest of his life! When I saw him today standing so close to you that he could have reached out to touch you, I wanted to beat him senseless."

Hilde looked away from him, his anger making her feel uncomfortable. "I'm sorry that I brought it up." She peeked at him and saw that he was draining his glass and she reached for her own.

"You are forgiven," he said after a moment.

She finished her own drink quickly and she welcomed the pain that the fiery liquid made as it slid down her throat. Blinking away the tears it brought to her eyes, she typed in a new search, but she could not concentrate on the pictures of the lovely wedding gowns she flipped through because she realized that her life had been so thoroughly manipulated that she didn't know what was true and what was a lie. One thing was certain. She would never believe that her mother would act in her best interests, and despite his good acting, Hilde didn't believe in the kind of coincidence that took Andreas Becker from being an unknown prosecutor from Sector 2 to the fiancé of the heiress of a pre-eminent Teuton family. No one made that kind of social climb without the approval of the Teuton community.

Andreas rose and crossed the room to take his jacket from the back of a chair, and then he headed to the door. "I have some business to discuss with Kurt. Collaborating online is too limiting."

"Will you return?"

He smiled as he opened the door. "Keep the bed warm for me."

She returned the smile, but it faded when he had gone. Hilde needed to find out the truth and she was going to start at the source of the biggest pack of lies. Duo Maxwell.


	11. Chapter 10

**TEN**

Ellie didn't say anything as they left the courthouse, and Duo was glad because he didn't want to talk to her anyway. Listening to her pleas to the judge to save her from prison because of Mia infuriated Duo after what she had said when she left them at the tower in Sector 13. To keep her from being sent to prison, he had paid nearly the entirety of the money he had saved to afford even half-days in a pre-school for their daughter, and now he barely had enough left on his card to afford the light rail back to Sector 4. Duo didn't even want to sit by her in the rail car, but men were watching her with predatory interest, so he couldn't leave her on her own. Wisely, she didn't try to talk to him all the way back to Le Beau Papillon.

When they reached the restaurant and entered through the back door, Madame Chantal and Rogelio were on their way out to visit the market in Sector 5. They gave Duo a subdued greeting before leaving, and neither spoke to Ellie. Ellie didn't seem to care. In fact, she had rudely ignored Madame Chantal, and that had Duo wondering how bitterly they had parted ways when Ellie quit her job in the nightclub.

He led her to the apartment above the restaurant, and after entering, he closed the door and turned to face her.

She was looking around the apartment. "I didn't know this place was here. I will enjoy living here."

"I'm not going to impose on Madame Chantal longer than necessary," Duo told her through gritted teeth. "We will find a place of our own."

Ellie huffed. "Are you making plans for me now?"

"You are my wife. Do I really have a choice?" Duo must have been naive to believe that Ellie hadn't found some way to make their marriage official.

"I had to do it," she said with a sniff. "Do you think the government would just sign over your benefits without proof of our marriage?"

"How did you do it, Ellie? How did you have the records changed to prove that we are married?"

She tossed back her hair. "It was easy." Taking off the shirt he had lent her to cover her indecent gown, she thrust out her bosom. "I gave the clerk in the records office a sight he'll never forget." She cupped her breasts and lifted them. "You saw how it worked on the judge."

"What worked on the judge was your lawyer's sensible argument." Duo had to admit that Hilde had done a good job of countering her own fiancé's attempt to put Ellie in jail. He had been shocked to see Ellie enter the courtroom with her, and he could not imagine what passed between them that made them look as though they would rather be anywhere than with each other. He wasn't going to ask Ellie what they discussed. He would rather never know.

Ellie smirked at him. "Did you enjoy watching that woman flirting with the man that sent you to prison?"

He hadn't seen any flirting, and he knew that responding to her goading was what she wanted. "We are not talking about her." Duo didn't know how Ellie had discovered his relationship with Hilde after it had ended before she forced her way into his life or why she would use it against him.

Ellie laughed. "You should have seen the look on her face when she found out we were married all the while you were screwing her."

Duo clenched his fists at his sides, wanting to strike her. In Hilde's eyes now, what they had was a tawdry affair. There was no way he could ever convince her of his innocence now.

She glanced at his hands which he relaxed. He wasn't going to hurt any woman, not even Ellie. When he didn't say anything, she looked around the living room. "Where is Mia?"

"She is at the park playing with a friend."

"How sweet! I'm happy she has someone other than that pathetic toy you fished out of the trash for her."

He couldn't argue that the toy wasn't pathetic, but it had been the best he could do at the time. And Mia loved Teddy.

Smiling seductively, Ellie put her hands on Duo's chest and slid them upward until she had laced her fingers behind his neck. She pressed the length of her body against him. "We've never had time alone like this. I want to show you how much I appreciate what you did for me."

Disgusted by the sight of her and repulsed by her suggestion, Duo pushed her back. "Get cleaned up and then we're going to talk." He pointed in the direction of his room. "There is a bathroom with a shower attached to my room. I'll be out here waiting for you to finish."

He watched her walk away, his eyes drawn to the exaggerated sway of her hips which she intended and then he looked away when she glanced at him over her shoulder, her lips curved in a knowing smile. She ran her tongue around her lips as her gaze roved over him. "Why don't you join me? We can share the hot water like we used to, but this time we won't have to hurry."

He wasn't tempted by her. "Get it done. I don't want Mia to see you like this."

"I'll bet your Teuton whore is crawling over her man as we speak," taunted Ellie. "You didn't see how they were looking at each other. If you change your mind, I'll be happy to give you whatever she's giving him."

She disappeared down the hallway and Duo wished he could get the images she had just given him out of his head. But how could he when he had spent most of the morning watching Hilde's performance in court. He hadn't known when Ellie would be arraigned, so he had watched her argue for a couple of teenage boys who had been caught selling drugs. He had just settled into a seat in the back of the courtroom when she walked in with her clients, just kids who would never be able to afford a lawyer, certainly not the professional, smartly dressed woman that was representing them. Hilde wore her longer dark hair in a no-nonsense bun, and Duo stared at her back most of the time she had been in court, but she looked even thinner than he had thought when he saw her arriving for the gala.

As she argued for her clients, he saw glimpses of the woman he remembered, the woman who would fight for what she believed in, and in the case of the boys, the right to a second chance. She had to have been as disgusted by her second client as Duo had. The burly man had been arrested for beating his wife when his neighbors called the police. His wife was at court to support him even though she looked as though she had been worked over by a professional boxer. Hilde hadn't given even a hint of her personal feelings in her defense of the brute. Duo had hoped that she wouldn't have to defend Ellie, but she probably didn't have a choice.

Hilde must have felt humiliated to discover the lie that was his marriage to Ellie, and Duo didn't need to ask Ellie to know that she had acted the wronged woman to make her feel even worse. Duo would like to have a chance to explain, but what could he say? While she had been grieving her father's death, he was banging another woman that he had allowed to claim was his wife. The moment he took advantage of what Ellie had been offering in prison, he sealed his fate. He couldn't cry that he was an innocent victim. The only innocent victims in the entire sordid mess were Hilde and Mia.

Ellie took a long shower and, having lost patience, he was about to go into the bathroom to drag her out if necessary when she sauntered into the living room combing through her wet hair. She was wearing one of his shirts and a pair of his jeans, the former too big and the latter fitting her curves snuggly although she had to roll them up.

"I need to get my clothing back from Robert," she announced when she caught him looking at her hips.

"Stay away from him," Duo warned. "A confrontation with him won't do your case any favors."

She sat on the couch and put her bare feet on the coffee table. "You don't even know what this is about. Robert was miffed because I refused to play his perverted games. I'm not into leather and whips and inviting friends."

"I don't want to hear why you two had a lover's spat." Duo glared down at her. "I want you to tell me who put you up to taking advantage of me."

Ellie gave him an exaggerated pout. "Poor Duo. Your life is ruined. You have to keep me as your wife because if you try to divorce me, someone might discover that we were never legally married. You will end up in prison and Mia will be put in an orphanage."

Duo clenched his fists at his side. "What did I do to you to make you hate me?"

She shrugged. "I don't hate you, Duo. As for who put me up to it, after my family was killed in a raid, I found myself on the streets again. I looked up our former friends and found Mac. You remember him?"

The name recalled a weasel that could and would scam the last penny from a destitute widow. "And destroying my life was his idea?" Duo hadn't had much to do with Mac when he had lived on the streets, so he didn't understand why he sent Ellie his way.

"We had a different plan," she told him. "I would use my considerable charm," she drew Duo's attention to her breasts again by thrusting them out, "snag a wealthy patron in Sector 2 and get pregnant."

"A man from Sector 2 would never marry you," Duo scoffed.

"Exactly! But he would have to take care of me and the baby or risk being arrested and ruining his reputation in Teuton society. They don't breed with anybody but their own. Mac and I could have lived comfortably on what I could get from the Teuton bastard."

Duo thought about his interview with Otto Schbeiker. Nobody was more entrenched in that society. He even wore gold cuff links that matched the crest mounted on the wall of his study. Yet he hadn't given Duo the impression that he was against Duo's relationship with his daughter.

"The guy couldn't pop one in me," she said with a tragic sigh. "Mac suggested I get another guy to do it and claim it was his. Finding one that wouldn't want a cut was a problem until Mac saw the news story about you getting sent to prison. You were the perfect patsy."

Duo shook his head. "All that time you were pretending to help me, you were just helping yourself."

She shrugged. "We all have to find a way to make a living."

He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. "You don't have to do it by lying and cheating people. What about Mia?"

"What about her? She was the means to an end, and when my mark discovered she wasn't his, the only reason I had to keep her around was to continue collecting what little money I could from your benefits."

"You don't care anything about her," Duo accused furiously, his heart breaking for his daughter. "She loves you and misses you!"

"I need to get my things back from Robert," Ellie said, ignoring his outburst. She rose and left the room, and Duo followed her back to the bedroom they would share where she grabbed the spiked heel shoes she had worn with her dress and slipped them on. They looked ridiculous with his jeans. "I'm going to see him. I'll apologize and offer to do what he wants. He likes me. We just had a little setback."

Duo caught her arm when she tried to move past him. "You're making a mistake, Ellie. If you end up in jail again, I don't have anything left to bail you out and I'll lose what I already put up for you."

Her lip curled. "You owe me more than the pittance you paid already."

"I owe you?" Duo couldn't believe she had the audacity to blame him when all he had been was a gullible fool.

"Don't get too comfortable with Mia," she warned him as she yanked her arm from his grasp. "When I am settled with Robert I will be back for her."

Duo followed her to the door. "Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you?"

She spun to look at him, her eyes blazing with fury. "I was happy with my family! I had put the past behind me, and then men like you took it away in an instant!"

He wanted to argue that he wasn't responsible for the deaths of her family during the war, but he had surely destroyed the lives of countless others. When he didn't respond, she wrenched open the door and left him to stare at it after slamming it in his face.

The day had started out so well for him. He had returned Dorothy's gun without incriminating himself, he had seen Mia happily playing with other children and Heero Yuy had offered him a job. Thinking of the job, Duo fished in his pocket for the card his friend had given him, and he ended up pulling out both his and Quatre Winner's. He decided to call Quatre first to ask if he and Dorothy wouldn't mind taking care of Mia until the evening. Quatre didn't ask the reason but told him that Jamila would be delighted to spend more time with her new friend. They had lunch at the hotel and the girls were swimming in the private swimming pool in their suite. Mia didn't own a swimsuit, so Duo guessed she was borrowing one from Jamila or, more likely, Dorothy had purchased one for her. Duo wasn't going to object to accepting the gift. He didn't have enough money to buy her a swimsuit or to reimburse them. He had just enough to pay the fare on the light rail to Sector 6 where he hoped he would find Heero at the colony Preventer offices.

When he stepped into the building, he passed through scanners that immediately set off a warning from the coding in his tattoos. A Preventer officer passed another scanner over him to detect any weapons, and when he was finished, he sent him to the receptionist to state his reason for being there.

Duo didn't even make it to the desk before he heard Heero's voice behind him. "That was fast. I thought you might need at least a full day to think it over."

Duo turned around. "Do you always have to creep up on people from behind?"

Heero's brows raised. "I can't very well creep up on them from the front."

Despite his irritation, Duo chuckled. "No, I suppose you can't."

"Come this way. I have a temporary office."

Given Heero's rank, he wasn't surprised that the temporary office wasn't a partitioned space in the back. He had a central space enclosed with soundproof glass. There were several large screens that flashed what appeared to be security footage from around the colony as well as two computers on the large desk.

"Do you want some coffee or tea?" asked Heero who nodded to a chair across from his desk.

"After the day I've had, I would rather have something stronger."

Heero sat behind his desk and pulled open a drawer from which he took a bottle of amber liquid. "I figured George would have something like this." He set two glasses on the desk and poured liquor in both before returning the bottle to the drawer and handing Duo a drink.

The whiskey was cheap, but it was better than having tea. "What happened to George after you commandeered his office?"

"George was happy to take a vacation for a couple of weeks while I am here."

"You think you can clean up this colony in a couple of weeks?" Duo snorted and took another drink. "Good luck."

"I don't need luck. I need you." Heero sat back in his leather swivel chair. "What happened to change your mind?"

Duo was embarrassed to admit to all his failings in the last five years, especially how he had allowed Ellie to so thoroughly manipulate him, but he told Heero anyway. Getting it off his chest was a relief even though there was nothing Heero could do to help him untangle the mess he had gotten into with Ellie. When he finished, Heero took out the whiskey and topped off his glass.

"I wish I had something stronger to offer."

Duo agreed.

"What happened to you doesn't surprise me," Heero told him. "Despite claims to the contrary, corruption is widespread on this colony." He indicated the screens where nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening on the streets or in the alleys. "What I am looking to stop won't ever show up here."

"I still don't know how you expect me to help." Duo was severely hampered by the scanners that would report his every move.

Heero reached into his jacket and tossed a small pouch on the desk, and taking it, Duo opened it to find a ring.

He upended the pouch to drop the golden band into his hand. "If this is some type of proposal, Heero, I'm already taken."

The other man snorted. "It emits a signal that will mask the coding embedded in the skin at your wrists."

He turned the ring in his fingers. "There are men that would pay a lot of money for something like this."

"I don't recommend that you put it on. Colony security will be alerted if you fell off the radar now. The pouch is lined so that it won't affect scanners, so keep it in there until you need to use it."

Duo slipped the ring back in the pouch and stuffed it in the pocket of his jeans. "What do you want me to do first?"

Heero stared at him silently for a moment and then said, "I'll understand if you want to hunt down your old friend, Mac, but we need to find out who was behind the assassination attempt on Andreas Becker last night."

Duo would like a chance to beat the shit out of Mac, but that could wait. He would put Preventer business above his personal life. "Did you find out the identity of the assassin?" asked Duo curiously.

Heero typed something into his computer and spun the screen for Duo to see. "An ex-OZ sharpshooter responsible for several high-profile assassinations during the war."

"That kind of man would demand a high price for his services," commented Duo.

"We can rule out Becker's political opponent. The man barely has enough resources to continue his campaign."

"I should check him out anyway," said Duo. "Just because he can't pay for an assassin it doesn't mean he doesn't have a backer who can."

"He's holding a rally in Sector 9 tomorrow. If you can get away from work, you can attend the rally without drawing any suspicion. Get a feel for the man, see what kind of people he draws to his campaign."

"I can tell you that already," Duo said with a snort. "Crackpots. He claims the attack on Sector 13 during the war was an inside job."

Heero raised his brows. "Does he have any evidence?"

"He claimed to have witnesses, but they never materialized."

"Interesting. You and I both know that were there is smoke, there's fire."

Duo shook his head. "He's not credible. And the truth was that OZ used the attack to draw the colony into war. A lot of men and women joined the military because of it." He thought of Hilde's passionate response to the attack and how she had turned her back on the safety net provided by her community so that she could fight to protect everyone living on the colony. That woman was almost completely gone.

Heero seemed to be reading his mind. "You haven't told me what happened between you and Hilde Schbeiker."

"What's to tell? We had a good thing, and then I ended up in prison." Duo didn't know anything more than that and he probably never would. He accepted that Hilde had come to realize that the gulf between them was too great. She was from Sector 1 while he had grown up on the streets of Sector 13.

"I spoke to her at a garden party Relena attended."

"What did she tell you?" Duo was curious if Hilde had confided in Heero about why she hadn't so much as said goodbye to him. He would have expected after what he thought they meant to each other, that she would have at least given him a chance to tell his side. But then he remembered how concerned she had been that last night when he told her about the job that would have made him a tidy profit. She probably thought he had been lying all along. After today she would be sure of it.

"I asked if she knew where you were, and she told me that she did not. We spoke briefly about your trial and she nearly went to pieces before my eyes when she mentioned her father." Heero typed on the keyboard of the other computer and showed him that screen. "What do you make of this?"

Duo skimmed through a toxicology report, most of which he did not understand. The drug was a powerful psychotic that appeared to make the user susceptible to alteration of memories. "Is this some sort of illegal drug being distributed on L2?" If so, he hadn't heard of it. Then again, Duo had lived in a very self-contained world after leaving prison.

"During our conversation, Hilde Schbeiker became agitated and took out a container of pills, but she was shaking so badly that she dropped it and when the pills spilled on the ground, I managed to take a couple for testing as I collected them for her."

"She is taking this drug?" Duo couldn't believe she would do such a thing. "Why?"

"That is something you might try to find out."

Duo shook his head. "No! I'm not speaking to her."

"I would think that you would want to know why she ditched you when you needed her."

"I know why," said Duo bitterly. "She's the heiress of a Sector 1 Teuton family, and I am nobody. My being sent to prison gave her a convenient excuse to put me in the past."

Heero put his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "We need her help, Duo. She is the only person capable of moving in those circles and I don't believe for a second that the Teuton community isn't neck deep into the corruption of this colony."

Duo shook his head. "You don't really care about helping me personally. You just need her to spy on her people."

Leaning back against the chair, Heero said, "Maybe I think both can be accomplished. You wouldn't be so defensive if you didn't still have feelings for her, so if you want to help her, start with getting her off this drug."

"There might be a valid medical reason for her to be taking it," argued Duo.

"Then you will need to find that out by visiting her doctor's office. She sees an exclusive psychiatrist in Sector 1, Walter Kroeger."

"Her doctor isn't going to talk to me about her."

Heero snorted. "I didn't tell you to make an appointment."

"That doesn't seem right." The thought of breaking into a doctor's office and going through his files on Hilde made Duo feel uncomfortable.

"Are you having second thoughts?" asked Heero. "Because if you are, return the ring and go back to that nice, stable life you have built living on someone else's charity as you chop salads. By the time your 'wife' decides to leave you and takes that sweet little girl with her, I'll be gone and so will your opportunity to right a hell of a lot of wrongs on this colony."

Duo scrubbed his face with his hands and then he said, "I can't afford to refuse." For all he knew, Ellie was planning even now with Robert Cameron to take Mia from him, and he couldn't bear to think of Mia with that woman. "I'll do what I can after I'm done with work."

"I'll let Dorothy know that your daughter will be spending a lot of time with her."

"Is she still working for you?"

Heero raised a brow. "Nobody stops working for me."


	12. Chapter 11

**ELEVEN**

 _"We have never promoted an associate to even junior partner before he or she has been with the firm for at least five years. We are certainly not going to promote you after only two when you are very likely going to leave after you marry Andreas Becker."_

Hilde was replaying the words in her head as she walked into her office where she strode past her assistant, Margret, who tried to get her attention. She hadn't intentionally slammed the door, but she had closed it abruptly so that no one would bother her. She had worked up the courage to speak to the senior partners about a promotion that morning after she received a message from Judge Mayer who had presided over the arraignments the previous day. He had complimented her on her performance in his courtroom, writing that she was a credit to her firm and that he rarely saw such professional courtesy given to defendants who probably did not deserve it. Unfortunately, the partners at the law firm did not agree. In fact, they told her that they felt her work for the public defender's office reflected poorly on the firm and that they wanted her to desist from appearing at arraignments for men and women that should be locked up for the good of the colony and that her father never would have condoned her pro bono work.

Trembling with anger and frustration, she sat behind her desk and pulled out her purse from a desk drawer and fumbled for her pills. When she didn't find them immediately, she upended the expensive leather handbag and moved around the items, searching frantically for the pills. Had she taken one that morning? Putting the vial in her purse after taking one was part of her daily routine, but Hilde didn't remember doing it because she had been running late. Andreas hadn't returned the previous evening, and she hadn't slept well. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Duo Maxwell, or his wife, or both, together, laughing at her because she had been such a fool. Her mother had been right all along about him.

When she realized that she had forgotten to put her pills in her purse, Hilde opened drawers of her desk and moved things around hoping to find even one stray pill that may have fallen from the vial. After nearly a quarter hour of searching, she seized her phone and was about to call Dr. Koenig when a knock at the door made her freeze just before it opened to reveal Margret.

"Ms. Schbeiker, you have a visitor."

The top of her desk was a mess and she knew how she must look after her frantic search, but she managed to straighten her shirt, button her blazer and run a hand through her hair to pull out the band keeping it swept back because most of it had come loose anyway.

"You don't need to announce me." Dorothy Catalonia strode into the office. Her eyes took in the condition of the desk and Hilde could see when they fell on her and she looked surprised that she probably hadn't done a good job of making herself presentable. The other woman looked at her assistant who was glaring at her for intruding without waiting for permission to enter. "Run along and get us some coffee."

Margret looked at Hilde for confirmation and she nodded curtly. Dorothy sat down in one of the seats across from Hilde, and as she looked around the room, Hilde shoved everything on her desk in a drawer. She would deal with the mess later.

Dorothy's eyes came back to rest on her. "You have a small office."

"I don't need a large office," Hilde retorted, her tone sharper than she intended because she was still miffed about having been denied by her father's partners.

The other woman's eyebrows raised slightly, but she didn't comment because Margret returned carrying a tray with a coffee server and two cups along with a variety of flavored creamers and sugar. She poured them coffee, and after they both refused any flavoring, she served it to them on saucers with napkins before she left them alone.

Dorothy sipped the coffee and then set the saucer and cup on Hilde's desk.

Hilde took a couple of sips, hoping desperately that it would calm her nerves. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Winner?"

"I do prefer Ms. Catalonia if you must be so formal. I didn't become my husband's property when I married him."

"I shall make a note of it," said Hilde before taking another sip of coffee. "Perhaps you can answer my question. I have a lot of work to do."

"Are you this rude to all your prospective clients?"

"Only the ones that I suspect were sent here by Heero Yuy." She took one of her business cards and scribbled the address of Le Beau Papillon on it before handing it to her. "This is where he can most likely find Duo Maxwell. I represented his wife in court yesterday and this is the address I was given to contact her."

Dorothy didn't even look at the card before dropping it on Hilde's desk. "You're too late. We have already had a pleasant reunion with him. How did your reunion with him go?"

There wasn't a reunion, just a disgruntled look and the begrudging offering of his address. "It was cordial." She frowned at Dorothy. "If you didn't come here for the information, then why are you here?"

"Is it impossible to believe that I might want your services?"

Hilde raised a brow. "You come without your husband. Given your volatile relationship with him, am I to assume that you are in need of a divorce attorney? I'm sorry, but I don't have any experience in that area."

Dorothy laughed in genuine amusement. "I shall tell Quatre what you said. I left him at our room watching over children. In truth, I suspect Rashid is watching the children while Quatre catches up on some work."

"If you don't need my services, then why are you here?" Hilde wished she would leave so that she could call Dr. Koenig.

"I am here to give you an excuse."

"An excuse to do what?"

"An excuse to meet with me at Le Beau Papillon. Quatre and I are staying at the Grand Embassy Hotel, so meeting me at the restaurant is convenient."

Hilde blinked in confusion. "I don't understand."

Dorothy raised her cup and took a leisurely long sip from her coffee before she responded. "Duo Maxwell works at the restaurant."

"And you think I want to meet with him?"

"Well, you can't very well do it in public," said Dorothy matter of factly. "I speak from experience when I say that reporters love a juicy scandal. What would your fiancé think if he found out that you were spending time with your former lover?"

Hilde's cheeks were burning, and her temper was rising. She couldn't remember the last time she was this angry. As she stood, she was shaking. "I want nothing to do with that lying bastard."

"I know how you feel," Dorothy said with a shrug. "If I were you and he were guilty of everything you believe him to be guilty of, I would put a bullet between his eyes."

"That is the first thing you've said since coming in here that makes sense. I have no reason to speak to him," that was a lie, "so I don't need you or Heero Yuy to make arrangements for me to meet with him secretly."

Dorothy stood. "I'll be expecting you to meet me for lunch promptly at noon. My husband becomes surly if he doesn't eat on time and I don't think you want to witness how my daughter behaves if her meal is a moment late."

Without giving Hilde a chance to tell her she had no intention of meeting with her or Duo Maxwell, she rose and walked out. Hilde downed her coffee, wishing she had something stronger to drink and was about to call her doctor when Margret returned.

"Ms. Catalonia instructed me to clear your appointments for the afternoon. Should I add her to your client list?"

Hilde wanted to tell her not to cancel her appointments and that Dorothy Catalonia was not her client, that she was a troublemaking busybody secret Preventer agent, but she nodded instead. "I have a lunch engagement with her. I will let you know if she decides to retain my services."

After Margret left her office, Hilde propped her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her clasped hands. She didn't owe Duo Maxwell anything, certainly not a chance to explain why he had used her. But she owed him something, and that was her opinion of his rotten behavior. Hilde would go to lunch, and she would have her say. She certainly wouldn't listen to him.

Looking at her watch, she saw that she had three hours before lunch, so she decided to get some work done before leaving. She hadn't even had a chance to check her messages when the door opened and the senior partner, Hans Schulz, who had shot down her request to be made a partner no more than thirty minutes ago, walked in. Hilde wondered if Margret needed some training in keeping people out of her office or at least warning her before they barged in.

"Did I see Dorothy Winner leave your office?"

"She prefers to go by her own name, Catalonia, and yes you did." Hilde noted that he looked downright giddy with the prospect of Winner money flowing through the law firm.

"Has she asked for your services?"

"We will be discussing it at lunch." Hilde wondered how he would react to learning that she had no need of a lawyer and that she was just setting up a personal meeting between her and a convict. She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"If you manage to get her to retain you, I'm sure that the board will reconsider your request."

"I will do what I can, Mr. Schulz." But Hilde no longer wanted to sit on the board with the hypocritical men who ran the firm.

"Your father would be proud of you!" He walked out of her office with a spring in his step.

Proud that she was going to meet the man that was using her behind his wife's back? Hilde doubted it. She went back to her work, and when it was time to leave, she told Margret to let her know if any of her clients contacted her. She only had a handful that she had represented in mergers that were going smoothly, so she doubted she would be hearing from them any time soon, and the Phoenix Group hadn't contacted her since their last purchase. On the way to Sector 3, she called Margret and told her to take the afternoon off. Margret's response was a reserved thank you, but Hilde sensed she was delighted to get out of that stodgy office. Hilde wished she had the freedom to do the same, that she would not have to return.

Where had that thought come from? She enjoyed working at her father's law firm. At least she thought she did. She automatically reached inside her purse for her pills when she thought of her father, and then she remembered she didn't have any. The only place she could get them was from Dr. Koenig because both he and Werner insisted that her privacy would not be secure if he sent her prescription to a pharmacy for her to pick up. Now Hilde didn't have time to stop at Dr. Koenig's office, so she was going to have to go without until she returned to her apartment that evening.

When her car pulled up at Le Beau Papillon, she checked her watch and saw that it was five minutes after the appointed time and she smiled to herself as she entered the restaurant. It was such a small rebellion, but Hilde was glad she was late.

Madame Chantal came to greet her personally. Hilde couldn't return her warm welcome since she learned that the woman had lied to her about Duo working there. She remained silent as she led her across the restaurant. Hilde had liked her, mostly because her mother despised her for something that happened when they were younger, and now she wondered if her mother was a better judge of character than Hilde had given her credit for.

The Winner family was seated at a table near the kitchen, a location that annoyed Hilde when she knew it was for her to have easier access to Duo Maxwell. She imagined them standing in a steam-filled room discussing their past as he scrubbed dishes. Quatre Winner was drumming his fingers on the table watching his wife nurse their baby. There were two little girls with them, and Hilde didn't have any trouble picking out their daughter because she was the image of Dorothy Catalonia. But where her mother wore an elegant dress designed to allow her to nurse her infant in public without making others uncomfortable, Jamila Winner wore a garish orange blouse with outrageous ruffles along with purple leggings and a pink tutu. The girl sitting with her with her dark hair in a neat braid had on a pale blue dress that was worn and faded, ankle socks with lace and scuffed shoes. She looked like a waif the Winners had taken off the street to give a decent meal because she was so thin.

"I didn't think she would come," announced Quatre who signaled for a waiter.

"I knew she would," said Dorothy with a smug smile. "I think I can guess how her mind works since I have experience in dealing with low-life men that lie and cheat. Remember?"

Hilde thought he might be annoyed to have some past indiscretion thrown in his face, but Quatre snagged his wife's hand and brought it to his lips. "You'll never let me forget."

The loving smile they shared yanked at Hilde's heart. She had felt that way for a man and he had betrayed her.

The waiter came to the table as Hilde sat down at the only available chair next to the dark haired little girl. "I'll have a martini," she said.

"She will have an ice tea," Dorothy corrected, and then looked at Hilde apologetically. "In deference to my husband, who does not drink alcohol, to myself, who shouldn't drink alcohol and to the children." She nodded to the girls who hadn't paid any attention to Hilde's arrival as they sat with their heads together whispering.

"The eyesore is my daughter, Jamila."

The blond girl raised her head. "What is an eyesore?"

"You are, sweetheart," said Quatre with an indulgent smile.

"I will explain it later," Dorothy told her daughter. "Although I have done so many times and you do not listen." She looked at Hilde. "And her friend is Mia Maxwell. Girls, this nice lady is Hilde Schbeiker. She is a friend of Mia's father."

Hilde froze as the little girl Dorothy had identified as Duo's daughter looked at her and smiled politely. She held out her small hand. "How do you do?"

As Hilde took her hand and met her brilliant blue gaze, her heart melted instantly. "Very well," she managed to say around the lump in her throat. "I am pleased to meet you."

"Huh," Quatre grunted as his daughter leaned around Mia to wave to Hilde. "Who knew Duo's kid would be politer than mine?"

"Can we eat now?" asked Jamila.

The waiter returned with Hilde's tea and she was glad to have something to distract her. She didn't know how to feel sitting next to the child Duo had with his wife, and she didn't know what to say or if she needed to talk to the girl anyway. Hilde didn't know how to act around a child. Period.

After taking a drink, she looked at Mia. "You must be happy that your mother is home again."

Her smile faded and she looked troubled. "Mama is not home. Papa says she will be back soon, but he has been saying that for many days."

Hilde hoped she wouldn't cry because she wouldn't know what to do, and a helpless look at Dorothy told her she should have kept her mouth shut. Where had Ellie gone if she hadn't returned to live with Duo? If she had nothing else to talk about to Duo, she could at least ask him where his wife was and to remind him that he would lose the money he had posted for her bond if she did not show up for court.

Fortunately, food that must have been ordered before she arrived was brought to the table, so Mia's attention was drawn to her meal. Dorothy had taken the liberty of ordering for her for which she was not apologetic. She told her that the staff was aware of Hilde's preferences and Hilde was not disappointed in the soup and salad with a half sandwich they brought her. Before she started eating, Dorothy had taken the baby from under the flap of her dress and handed the sleepy infant to his father who patted him just long enough to get a burp before he carefully laid him in a padded basket on a chair between them.

Unable to bear the happiness she saw between Quatre and Dorothy when her own life was a miserable mess, Hilde turned her attention to her food, but she soon discovered that she wasn't hungry. How could she be when she sat next to the sweet little girl that Duo had made with another woman? What made the situation so much worse was that Hilde thought Mia was heart-breakingly adorable as she ate her burger and fries. She seemed to savor every fry as if it were the finest caviar, and Hilde could only assume that it was because she had been deprived. Knowing Duo's circumstances, she understood why, but that did not garner any sympathy for him. If he couldn't afford to take care of children, then he shouldn't have had any.

"I understand you have been representing the Phoenix Group," Quatre said, drawing her attention away from Mia. "I don't suppose you would tell me who is behind that organization? I would like to contact him or her personally to purchase the properties the group has taken over in Sector 13."

"I couldn't tell you even if I knew the names of the people who invest in the Phoenix Group," Hilde told him. "They have sent a different representative each time I meet them, and a condition of allowing me to handle their business is that their identities remain anonymous even to me."

"Don't you find that stipulation odd?" asked Dorothy.

Hilde shrugged. "They haven't done anything illegal and they pay my law firm well for my services. Knowing their identities is not important."

"Will you pass along my request?" asked Quatre. "I would be willing to pay whatever they ask."

"I will let them know of your interest, however I should warn you that I have gotten the impression that they already have plans for the properties they acquired in Sector 13." Their representatives hadn't given her so much as a clue about what those plans might be, but their desire to acquire nearly all the non-governmental properties of the sector indicated that they had done so purposefully.

"We are going to the circus today," announced Jamila.

"I have been to the circus," said Mia. She held up a stuffed pink elephant that looked like it could use a washing but was still in better shape than the ragged teddy bear in her lap. "My papa got this for me at the circus."

"We are paying the admission for any child or adult that wishes to see the performances throughout the week," Dorothy told Hilde.

"Afterwards we are going to have a picnic," said Mia. "Just like papa and me."

"Speaking of which," Dorothy rose. "I need to use the powder room. Hilde, would you care to join me?"

"I will," said Jamila as she slipped off her chair to stand.

Dorothy frowned at her daughter. "You can wait."

"I have to go!"

"So do I," said Mia shyly.

Dorothy rolled her eyes. "Very well! Let's have a parade to the powder room." She gave Hilde a pointed look, but Hilde was trying not to laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so amused.

But then she remembered the purpose for their visit to the restroom, so she tossed her napkin on the table and followed them. Instead of stopping at the restroom, Dorothy marched past and pushed through a door where Madame Chantal was waiting. She raised her brows when she saw the girls, but she recovered her surprise and led them through the workroom where the dishwashers stopped working as they moved through the steamy area. When they reached a back door, Jamila exclaimed that it had been fun and that she wanted to do it again. Apparently, she didn't have to relieve herself as desperately as she had let on.

Madame Chantal opened the door to an alley, and Hilde saw Duo waiting. He was wearing an apron and there was a white hat on his head.

"Papa!" Mia ran to her father and he swept her up to give her a hug and a kiss. "Did you put extra pickles on my burger?"

Duo rubbed her nose with his own. "You know I don't make the burgers, but I did ask Franco to do it."

"Thank you, papa!"

She kissed his cheeks before he put her down and turned to look at Dorothy. "Maybe you could take the girls back inside so that I can speak to Hilde alone?"

"Come along, young ladies," said Dorothy as she headed back to the door where Madame Chantal was waiting for them. "You have to finish your meal and then we will go to the circus."

They cried out with delight and Hilde watched them with amusement as they skipped in following Dorothy. After Madame Chantal closed the door, Duo remarked, "She has changed so much that I barely recognize her."

Hilde turned from looking at the door to face him. "And I have recently learned that I never knew you at all."


	13. Chapter 12

**TWELVE**

"I can explain everything if you give me a chance."

"A guy like you would have his story ready, especially since your friends forced me to meet with you." Hilde looked away from Duo and her eyes fell on a dumpster before she returned her gaze to him. "I'm not surprised we are having this conversation in a dirty alley. It suits you."

Duo swiped the hat from his head and reached back to untie his apron. "I don't have time for this now. My shift is over, and I have something else to do."

Hilde stared at him incredulously as he took off his apron. "I was all but forced to come here and you are leaving? You haven't so much as apologized for what you did to me!"

"Dorothy Catalonia sent me a message telling me to meet you back here. _I_ didn't set this up. She gave me the impression that _you_ did." He strode toward her and she instinctively stumbled back, but he stopped just out of reach. "And I don't have anything to apologize for." Then he grimaced. "Okay, there may be one or two things, but we're not going to talk about that now."

She gasped in indignation. "You're going without speaking to me?"

He stopped at the door, but he didn't turn to look at her. "I need to explain everything to you, but I can't do it now because I have to leave." He keyed in a code to the door and slipped inside, leaving Hilde to stand in the alley staring at the closed door.

She recovered quickly and stomped to the back entrance intending to stop him from leaving before she got some answers. But the door was locked, and she had to pound on it for a couple of minutes before a boy wearing a rubber apron and gloves opened it just enough to peer out.

Hilde pushed past him into a steam filled room where men and women handled sprayers to rinse dishes while others scrubbed pots. They were so busy that they did not seem to notice her, and she couldn't see Duo anywhere. She stumbled in the direction she hoped would take her back to the dining area, but she couldn't be sure if she was going the right way. She soon realized she was disoriented and began to feel panic. Why hadn't she taken her medication that morning? If she had, she wouldn't be in this situation now!

Suddenly her wrist was grabbed, and she was pulled along through the area to the outer room where she saw that it was Madame Chantal who had led her through the workroom.

"Where is Duo Maxwell?" she demanded furiously. Her clothing was sticking to her, her hair was limp, and she was shaking from a near anxiety attack.

"He told me that he was going to attend a political rally in Sector 10." Madame Chantal didn't seem to think his behavior was out of the ordinary.

"A political rally in Sector 10?" Hilde remembered that Andreas was having a rally in Sector 2 and she had told him she might be able to join him there after checking in at the office. How was he going to feel if she showed up late or not at all?

"That is what he told me this morning when he asked for an earlier shift."

Knowing the other woman wasn't going to tell her anything else either because she didn't know anything or because she was covering for Duo like she had in the past, Hilde pushed through the door to the dining area, nearly knocking over a young man who was carrying a bin full of dishes. He managed to side-step her, or she might have ended up with food splattered on her clothing.

As she headed back to the table, Hilde thought about Duo's strange behavior. She couldn't imagine why he would be interested in the ravings of the man running against Andreas, especially since he couldn't vote anyway. But that didn't mean he couldn't work for Hannibal Grey, and because Andreas had prosecuted him, she wouldn't put it past Duo to try to get back at him. She couldn't imagine how he would be taken any more seriously than the conspiracy nutcase after his time in prison. But then she realized that Duo was well known among the kinds of people that kept Hannibal Grey's campaign alive. They were the poor and the homeless, many of them having been failed by the horrendous child protection services system. Duo's appearance at Grey's rally might stir them up. After what he had done during the war, he was their hero, and his having been sent to prison only made him more sympathetic to them. Was that his plan? To get more people behind Andreas' opponent?

She returned to the table to find the Winner group getting ready to leave. Dorothy looked surprised that she had returned so soon. "I would have thought you had more to say to him or that he might have a harder time explaining."

"He didn't explain anything," she said after taking a calming breath. Berating Dorothy Catalonia in public for setting up their reunion wasn't going to get her anywhere and she didn't want to upset the children who were patiently waiting for them to leave. "He had better things to do, like going to a rally to listen to a lunatic spouting conspiracy."

"If I were you, I wouldn't go there," said Quatre as he picked up the basket where his son was sleeping.

Hilde hadn't considered going anywhere near that rally, especially since she had told Andreas she would go to his on the other side of the colony.

"You can't go there anyway," continued Quatre. "You would be recognized and there would be all sorts of hell to pay."

"I doubt your fiancé would enjoy finding out you attended a political gathering for his opponent," agreed Dorothy. "He doesn't strike me as the understanding type."

She didn't know why, but the prospect of confronting Duo there suddenly seemed appealing. Hilde looked down at her stylish suit, and she knew she couldn't go dressed like this, and there wasn't enough time for her to travel back to her apartment for different clothing. She was saved from acting on her impulse by common sense.

"I may have something you can wear," suggested Dorothy who seemed to be reading her thoughts.

"You shouldn't get involved," grumbled Quatre.

"Are we going to the circus?" interrupted Jamila who had come to stand among the adults while her friend hung back hugging her teddy bear.

Dorothy looked at Hilde. "We have to take Quasim back to the hotel. If you are so set on doing this, then I will help you."

Hilde hadn't been set on doing it, but she allowed herself to be swept along with the Winner group out of the restaurant and to the hotel across the street. Once she stepped out of the private elevator to the penthouse, she almost regained her sanity, but before she could tell Dorothy that she had changed her mind, the other woman hooked her arm and tugged her through the suite, confiding in her all the disguises she had used to hide from Quatre for several months. Hilde didn't know anything about their relationship except from what she had seen in the news, so she found the story intriguing although she was a bit embarrassed that the other woman's husband seemed to be annoyed by the recounting. Before she knew it, she was in their bedroom and Dorothy was pushing a pair of worn out jeans, a t-shirt and a wig of short, red hair at her. Hilde didn't stop to wonder why she had a wig as she changed into the clothing with Dorothy's urging.

By the time Dorothy had put the finishing touches on her disguise, too much makeup and cheap, garish jewelry that she borrowed from her daughter, Quatre came into the room to announce that Quasim was sound asleep and that the nanny had returned from lunch, so they could head out for the circus. Dorothy suggested that Hilde leave the hotel by the back door and take the light rail to Sector 10. As they parted ways with the Winner family getting on the private elevator as Hilde headed to the back of the suite to the one that room service used, she heard Quatre asking his wife where the disguise had come from, but she didn't hear her answer before the door closed.

The light rail station was a few blocks away, and Hilde's feet hurt by the time she got there because Dorothy hadn't had a pair of shoes that fit her. She considered stopping at an upscale store to buy a pair of sneakers rather than spend the day wearing her mid-heel pumps, but she worried that Andreas might ask why she had needed them on the day that she was supposed to be at his side at the rally in his home sector. Why was he checking her finances anyway? When, exactly, did that start? She couldn't even remember when Andreas had taken over the day-to-day tasks in her life and that bothered her. How would he feel if she asked him to stop? She wasn't a child that needed someone to take care of her!

Hilde felt like a fraud buying passage on the train among the poor working class that made up the cleaning staff of hotels and restaurants in the sector that catered to visitors to the colony. They were exhausted after putting in an honest day's work while she hadn't done anything more taxing than checking her email before she left her office for an expensive lunch that they had prepared, served and cleaned up after. Being upset over her aching feet seemed petty when every man and woman who boarded the train with her looked weary to the point of passing out.

The train made several stops in different sectors of the colony. When she first boarded, she was worried that some of the men that looked at her curiously might approach her and she would end up making a scene when she refused their advances, but they left her alone and she looked out the window to show that she was just as disinterested in her surroundings as everyone else on the car. She watched the scenery of the different sectors as the train passed through them. Even at high speed she could see deterioration of the neighborhoods growing more pronounced as the train neared the outer sectors. By the time it reached Sector 10, she was dismayed by the deplorable conditions she was seeing. She didn't even want to get off the car and thought she would be better off buying a fare back to Sector 1, where she could return to her apartment, take her medication and a long nap.

But she wasn't a coward, and when the train came to a stop, she stood with most of the others who had ridden in her car and she left the train with them. The station platform was littered, and the few chairs remaining for waiting passengers looked as though someone had tried to pry them up. There were a lot of passengers getting on and off the train, and Hilde soon found herself being buffeted by people who knew where they were going while she stood with uncertainty looking around as if she were a tourist on a safari.

Finally, she spied a campaign poster that was half-torn down, so she pushed through people to get to it. She was relieved that the poster gave the location and the time of the rally that would be starting soon, timed expertly to catch people returning from the day shift in other sectors. There was a map of the sector behind a dirty plexiglass display and she was dismayed to see that she would have to walk another half-dozen blocks to reach the central plaza.

After orienting herself, she headed in that direction, trying to look as though she knew where she was going while avoiding the men and women who called out to her offering her a good time. She shouldn't be shocked to see dirty, ill-dressed and ill-fed children playing in the streets, or young men and women either sitting listlessly on stoops oblivious to the world or lying passed out on the sidewalk because of some drug they had taken. She expected the conditions to improve as she drew nearer to the central plaza, but aside from more congestion as she joined other men and women going in the same direction, there were just as many, if not more, vagrants and prostitutes.

The street she had walked along opened to a wide central area that was filled with people. A few blocks away, she started to hear music that grew deafeningly loud when she reached the plaza where some of the people gathered were dancing. The stage that had been set up for Hannibal Grey was nothing like the high-tech platforms from which Andreas gave his speeches. There were planks placed on sawhorses from which some brightly colored streamers had been attached. There were dozens of colony police officers arrayed in riot gear on the outer edges of the crowd that had grown larger since Hilde's arrival. She had intended to stay on the outer edges until she discovered Duo's whereabouts, but a police officer used his shield to shove her into the crowd. Falling against a man that pushed her away, she managed to gain her balance before she ended up on the dirty ground where she was sure she would get trampled.

The music suddenly stopped, and when the crowd began to cheer enthusiastically, Hilde looked towards the platform and saw that Hannibal Grey had stepped to the microphone. As usual, he was dressed in a wrinkled suit that did not fit him, he badly needed a shave and his salt and pepper hair was tousled as if he had just run his fingers through it. His campaign workers had gathered behind him, and she wasn't surprised to see Duo Maxwell near them although he was moving away. She didn't take her eyes off him as she pushed through people to get to him, and she lost sight of him several times, but she had made some progress before Grey started to speak.

"I want to thank all of you fine citizens of the outer sectors for giving me the precious time you would use for resting and spending time with your families. Nobody on this entire colony works harder than the men and women of the outer sectors!"

The crowd roared with approval and Hilde was buffeted like a ship in a storm as the men and women around her surged closer to the makeshift stage. She lost sight of Duo again, but she shoved against sweaty, filthy men and women headed in the direction she had last seen him.

"Year after year we struggle to survive and what do we get in return? More than half our wages are taken by the government to pay for damages to our homes brought on by a useless war perpetrated by our government. What do we get in return? Have our homes and businesses been repaired?"

"No!" roared the crowd, many raising their fists in the air.

Hilde didn't know if she was getting near the edge of the crowd or not, but she was becoming increasingly afraid that Hannibal Grey was going to rile the crowd to the point that the police were going to have to do something to keep them under control.

"All the while our homes and businesses were destroyed in a pointless war, as our men, women and children were buried under the rubble, what did those Teutonic bastards in the inner sectors do? They hid behind their blast walls, and they did nothing while we were dying!"

The crowd shouted with outrage.

"We know why they did nothing! Because they invited the United Earth Sphere Alliance military occupation and condoned what they did when we resisted. They encouraged the United Earth Sphere Alliance to do what they have always wanted, to destroy our lives so that we would either die or leave the colony."

The crowd believed every word he said, and Hilde wished there was some way to get them to hear the truth. Her community had tried to negotiate with the United Earth Sphere Alliance, and when they could not, they did what they could to protect themselves. She had been angry the day that the inner sectors closed themselves off from the rioting and rebellion taking place in the outer sectors, and that was why she had joined OZ. If anyone was to blame, it was OZ for its ambition and deceit, but these people would never listen to reason.

"We will not leave!" shouted Hannibal Grey and the crowd roared its approval. "We built this colony with our sweat and our blood. It is ours!"

"It is ours!" The shouts around Hilde were fanatical, and suddenly the people were rushing against the colony police officers and when they pushed back with their riot shields, Hilde found herself being shoved back towards the center along with everyone else.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out and Hilde whipped her head around to see that a large chunk had been taken out of the podium where Hannibal Grey had been standing. Hilde didn't see him and was horrified that the shot had killed him, and she was relieved to see that his security team was rushing him away from the plaza. The police were blowing their whistles, and they were advancing on the men and women in the crowd, now striking them with their batons or shocking them with taser blasts. Overhead she heard the whirring sound of air transport and when she looked up, she was shocked to see that police must have called for military backup because commandos were shimmying down ropes from the transport, and they were carrying rifles.

Hilde pushed her way through the crowd, her heart pounding frantically, not in fear just for herself, but for everyone who had come to this political rally, men and women with whom she had ridden on the train who might never ride the train again. If she could reach a police officer, she might be able to use her influence to stop what she was sure would become a massacre. But before she made it to the edge, she heard the gunfire and screams before there was a stampede towards the side streets to escape the military. Incredulously, the police were trying to stop them from reaching safety, and desperate people found whatever rubble they could on the ground to fight. But it only served to escalate the violence in the plaza.

Suddenly she broke through the edge and was a few feet away from a police officer. He saw her at the same time that she did him, but when he dashed at her, he had his baton raised, and she didn't even have a chance to put up her arms to defend herself before it came crashing down on her head. After a blinding second of pain, she thought she saw Duo and she reached out for him, but everything became black.

Bright light in her eye brought her back to painful awareness, and she heard a woman say, "She's coming around now."

Hilde wished she could open her eyes, but her head felt like it had a knife stabbed through it and the light in her eye had made it worse.

"Thank you for stopping by, doctor. I know you're busy." Hilde recognized Duo's voice and now she did open her eyes to see Duo standing with an older woman dressed in a bloody lab coat.

She shook his hand and put her other hand over his. "Anything for you, Duo. She should stay in bed for a few days. Watch her closely and if you think I need to return, do not hesitate to send someone for me. Otherwise, I will stop by tomorrow to check on her."

Hilde thought she might be in a hospital, but when she looked around, she saw by the shelves around her that she must be in the backroom of a store, and she realized that she was lying on a cot, not a hospital bed. "Where ... where am I?"

Duo had been facing the door watching as the doctor left, but he turned around now, and she saw that his shirt was also streaked with blood. "Sorry, but it's not a hospital. There is only one in the sector and it is already overwhelmed with more serious injuries."

She tried to sit up, but Duo stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders to push her back down. She was glad because the movement of sitting up made her gasp from the pain.

"You need to lie still," he warned her. "You have a concussion."

Hilde remembered the police officer striking her with the baton and was surprised that her skull wasn't crushed. "What ... what happened?"

"You got caught up in the riot," Duo told her as he put his hands on his hips. He looked furious. "What the hell were you doing there?" He didn't give her a chance to respond as he reached down to pick up the wig she had been wearing which now seemed to be caked with blood, her blood. "And this? Was that some sort of ridiculous spy mission for your boyfriend?"

She couldn't answer because she really didn't know why she had followed him to the rally. Damn that Dorothy Catalonia! Hilde never would have done it without her prodding. She hadn't even considered it until Quatre Winner had put the thought in her head. Was he in on it too? But Hilde couldn't blame them. She was an adult and could make her own decisions, and she had decided to chase after Duo. What did she really think she would accomplish? She hadn't thought at all.

Sighing, Duo tossed the wig aside. "I know exactly who is to blame."

"I came here on my own," Hilde forced herself to say, and then she admitted, "I wanted to know what you were up to."

"What I was up to?" Duo threw up his hands. "I told you what I was up to. Is it impossible for you to believe that I might want to know what is happening on my colony?"

There was a knock at the door and a grizzled man poked his head in. "I got you a little something for the missus."

Duo didn't correct his assumption that Hilde was his wife as he took a bottle of water and held out his hand into which the other man dropped several pills. "Thanks, Rafe."

"Brutus wants to know how long you're going to use his bed."

"I'll tell him when I know. Did he send my message?"

"You will have to ask him. I have to go. I have a lot of customers today."

After the grimy man left, Duo shut the door and returned to the cot. "I have something for the pain."

Hilde wanted to protest when he sat on a crate near the bed and after opening the water, he pressed a couple of pills into her hand, then slipped an arm around her shoulders and lifted her so that she could take the pills.

She hesitated as she looked down at her hand. The pills didn't even match. "Are ... are these illegal?"

"I'm sure they're legal somewhere. Take them unless you would rather continue feeling as though someone tried to crack your head open like a nut."

Hilde put the pills on her tongue and drank from the bottle that he raised to her lips. After she had swallowed them, she said, "I've never taken illegal drugs before."

Duo gently laid her back against the lumpy mattress of the cot. "It can't be worse than what you have been taking."

It took a moment for his words to penetrate the pain, and then she propped herself on an elbow and glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the shit you have been popping. Did you know that stuff is illegal?"

"How do you know about my medication?" She was starting to feel woozy, and the pain was starting to recede, but she wasn't so disoriented that she couldn't find the answer to her own question after Duo didn't respond.

"Heero Yuy! He swiped some of my pills!" She should have been more outraged, but whatever Duo had given her was making her feel strangely ambivalent to the gross invasion of her privacy.

Duo had been frowning, but he was suddenly smiling. "I think we can have this conversation after you return from the trip you're going to take."

Hilde didn't have the will to protest. She fell back against the mattress that suddenly felt as soft as she imagined a cloud on Earth would feel. Silly, she couldn't rest on a cloud! Did she giggle? Did she hear Duo laugh? She didn't want him laughing at her, and she intended to tell him so, but she giggled again. She thought she couldn't feel anything, but then she was sure she felt the touch of lips against her own. Her last thought was that it had felt so good and she wanted more.

 _The ride back to her parents' home seemed to take longer than the trip to Duo's place, or maybe it was because Hilde was eager to get to the argument she was sure would take place when she answered her father's summons._ _Hilde wished that instead of having sex with Duo in the car that she had asked him for more details about what he and her father had discussed. No, that wasn't true. She wouldn't have done anything differently. After he had left with her father, she hadn't thought of much else besides being with Duo. He looked so good dressed up to meet her parents and she couldn't wait to peel off his clothes._

 _When they had gone to the salon after the men left, Hilde's mother had remarked, "I'm sure you enjoy what a man like him can give you in bed, but that won't last forever," her mother had said. "He will grow bored and want variety or you will. Either way, you will one day wonder why you wasted the precious years of your youth with him."_

 _Hilde had glared at her mother. "Is that what happened with you and my father?"_

 _She had given her a strangely enigmatic smile. "Exactly. And when it did, I realized that I was nothing more than the means for him to carry on his name through you."_

 _"Why didn't you have more children?" asked Hilde curiously. She had never had so personal a conversation with her, and since she seemed obliging, she decided to ask her mother what she had always wondered about. "Surely my father wanted a son."_

 _Ingrid raised her shoulders in a shrug. "It wasn't convenient. He had decided that one was enough and didn't mind that you were not the son most men want to carry on their name. I was relieved. I didn't want to go through that awful experience again."_

 _"Perhaps you should have opted for more pain medication," said Hilde wryly._

 _Her mother smirked. "I was talking about the conception, my dear, but your suggestion has merit. Your father's performance, while accomplishing what was necessary, was quite uninspiring and I think a little medication would have improved it."_

 _Considering her father's lack of affection, Hilde wasn't surprised. "I would rather not discuss this."_

 _"I thought I should prepare you for the future your father will intend for you: a husband that only wants you for your name. Enjoy your randy young lover while you can, because it won't last much longer."_

 _Her mother didn't offer her any other advice, preferring instead to read a magazine. Hilde had paced anxiously as she tried to imagine what Duo and her father discussed. Duo had nothing in common with Otto Schbeiker and he knew virtually nothing about her life before she joined the military. She hadn't wanted to tell him the truth, although he surely must have suspected from her name. It couldn't take too long for her father to tell him that he had no future with his daughter. When he had come into the salon with her father, she couldn't read anything from his expression, but her father's order to take him home and return to spend the night certainly didn't bode well._

 _Then why did Duo get the impression that her father wasn't the unfeeling bastard that she had known all her life? Hilde was anxious to hear what Otto Schbeiker had to say but buzzing the driver and telling him to hurry only seemed to have the opposite effect. She shouldn't have gone back. She should have shown her father that she wasn't going to be his mindless daughter, doing what he wanted at the snap of his fingers. The driver had already proven he wouldn't take orders from her, so he would ignore her if she ordered him to take her back to the salvage yard where she lived with Duo. She was just going to have to put up with her father's lecture about her duty. Hilde could imagine what her mother would add to the conversation. She was a bitter woman stuck in a marriage that she could never leave without being ostracized. She didn't seem to want anything better for her daughter._

 _When the car finally came to a stop before the mansion and the driver opened the door for her, Hilde glared at him. He ignored her and quickly moved around the car to get back in and drive it around the house to the garage that held, among several other elegant town cars, a sports car that her father had purchased when she was away. Hilde couldn't even imagine him driving it. Perhaps like the other odd things that he collected, he only wanted to look at it._

 _She walked to the door expecting Helmut to open it as he always did before anyone knocked, but the door did not open, even after a couple of moments passed. Hilde reached for the handle herself, wondering what she would do if she found it locked. She never had a reason to memorize the code to the lock of the front door, so she hadn't. Fortunately, the handle turned, and the door opened without her having to return to the front gate to call the house._

 _Hilde had never realized how eerily quiet her home was, probably because she spent as little time as possible under the roof with a man and woman who clearly disliked each other and didn't seem to care about her either. She could still see light coming from the salon, and she heard a low voice talking that didn't sound like her father. She took a step towards the salon to see who might be visiting at this late hour, but a sound from the direction of her father's study drew her attention. If he was still there and her mother was in the salon, Hilde hoped she could catch him alone to speak to him. Duo didn't think he was unreasonable, so maybe she could appeal to the side he had shown him. She would make him understand how much she loved Duo. She could never spend her life with another man. If she did, she would be ruined like her mother and she would rather be dead._

 _The hallway to the study was dark and she wondered why the lights were not on. And where was Helmut? Feeling anxious, she pushed forward into the dark hallway and she saw that the door to her father's study was closed, but there was light under the door. She stood there indecisively for a moment, suddenly afraid to speak to him. What if he didn't listen to her? For all she knew he had already chosen a man for her to marry. Did she really think he would let her do as she wished? They only way she had joined the military was by sneaking aboard a transport of recruits from a different sector after stealing the identification card from one of the upstairs maids. Defying him by staying with Duo was not going to be easy._

 _She knocked softly on the door. "Father, may I come in?"_

 _There was no answer for a moment, and then she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. It was a gunshot. Fearing that there was an intruder, she tried the door handle and found that the door was locked. She heard shouting from the salon, but Hilde wasn't going to wait for help. She had military training, so she kicked open the door and nearly stumbled inside. Her heart seemed to stop beating, and she fell to her knees when the first thing she saw was the family crest above her father's chair. It was splattered with blood that was still running in tiny rivers downward along with materials Hilde didn't want to identify._

 _"Hilde! Don't look!" She recognized Werner Richter's voice before he enfolded her in his strong embrace, but he hadn't pulled her around and shoved her face against his chest in time._

 _She had seen her father sitting in his chair, half his head gone while the other coated the family crest. His arm flopped over the chair to hang loosely at his side, and from his hand dropped a pistol._


	14. Chapter 13

**THIRTEEN**

"How is she?"

Duo looked up from watching Hilde sleep to see Heero standing in the doorway. "The doctor said she will have a nasty headache for a few days, but otherwise she'll be fine."

Glancing around the room, Heero crossed to grab a spindly chair with a satin cover that he dragged to place near Duo. He swung his leg over the side, straddling it as he sat on it backwards and put his arms on the back, probably because he felt ridiculous on the fancy chair. "It could have gone a lot worse for her. The death count in Sector 10 is up to forty-five with another two hundred injured, many of them critically. You may have saved her life."

"Luck," Duo admitted as he remembered the moment when he realized the red-haired woman who had been beaten down by a nearby colony police officer was Hilde. He had wanted to take down that police officer and beat him with his own baton, but he managed to get ahold of his emotions. Instead, he had grabbed Hilde and quickly carried her away from the plaza to the shop of one of his former associates a couple of blocks away.

She stirred restlessly on the bed, drawing Duo's attention. The drugs he had given her wore off hours ago after Heero arrived at the shop and orchestrated her removal back to Dorothy and Quatre's suite at the hotel. She hadn't awakened during the transport, and once they were at the hotel, Dorothy called for a doctor despite Duo's insistence that she had already been looked at. That doctor listened to the story about her slipping near the pool and hitting her head, and after he gave the same prognosis as the doctor in Sector 10 that Duo had talked into leaving the hospital to look at her, he gave Hilde a sedative and a prescription for stronger pain medication.

"I think she's been having some bad dreams," remarked Duo. He had been watching over her since coming to the hotel the previous day. Madame Chantal had given him the day off, so he wouldn't have to leave her side, and Mia was staying with Jamila. Both girls were schooled by Dorothy on what to say about Hilde's 'poolside accident' should they be questioned, and neither seemed to have an issue with lying which Duo thought might be cause for worry in the future. Then again, to them it was just storytelling, and Duo discovered that either Mia had a knack for it, or Dorothy was just scary good at brainwashing children.

"Did you have a chance to speak to Grey before all hell broke loose?" asked Heero. "Someone higher up in the colony police department called an abrupt end to the investigation on the man killed on the roof of the hotel. They informed the Preventer office that it was a fanatic from an outer sector."

"How would this supposed fanatic have gotten his hands on a high-powered sniper rifle?" Did colony police even consider how illogical their findings might be to people who do their jobs competently?

"The assassin was not from that sector. He arrived only recently on the colony from Earth."

Duo looked at him. "Is this information that the police was privy to before cancelling the investigation?"

"I assume so since it wasn't hard to find from the Earth transport travel manifests."

"Do you think that the attempt on Hannibal Grey's life was in retaliation?"

Heero grunted. "If I had known that your campaigns were so violent, I never would have allowed Relena to come here."

"I saw the speech she gave condemning the government's attack on the rally," Duo told him. "I appreciate that someone is standing up for the people on this colony who don't have a voice."

"Considering how easy it seems for anyone to get their hands on firearms and how high emotions are running on the colony now, I told her she shouldn't make a statement, but she was horrified by the excessive use of force. She is calling on the Earth Sphere United Nations to investigate who gave the order to send in the military."

"They had to be on their way before the rally turned into a riot in order to arrive so soon," Duo said. "And it wasn't much of a riot. Just a lot of angry people shouting and pushing back against the ridiculous amount of police presence. They weren't even armed." Duo wished he could scrub his memories of what had happened after Hannibal Grey had riled up the crowd. The overreaction of the police had Duo wondering if they had been sent to Sector 10 with the express orders to break up the rally.

"Did you get any information about the assassin from Grey?" Heero asked again.

Duo shook his head. "He doesn't have any wealthy donors. He barely gets enough contributions to keep his campaign afloat."

"There's a possibility that the motive for killing Becker is not related to the campaign."

"Is it possible that Becker believed it was politically motivated?"

"You mean to say, did Becker send out an assassin to kill Grey yesterday?" asked Heero.

"That's not possible." The weak statement came from the bed and Duo turned to see that Hilde was awake. She was pale and looked very confused as she weakly turned her head to take in her surroundings. This bedroom in the penthouse suite of the finest hotel on the colony was far different from the dingy backroom she had been in before Duo sent her on a pleasant trip with the help of a pill cocktail his old friend Rafe had provided. "Am I still high?"

Duo smiled at her. "No. You're in one of the rooms in the penthouse suite at the Grand Embassy Hotel, a guest of Quatre Winner and Dorothy Catalonia."

Hilde sighed and closed her eyes. "It's the least they could do." Then she opened her eyes wide. "How long have I been here?"

"The riot was yesterday," Duo told her.

She struggled to sit up, and when she winced with pain, Duo propped her up with a pillow that he tucked behind her. The look she gave him was anything but grateful, but he expected it. She believed that she had reasons to be furious with him, and that wouldn't change until he had a chance to explain how wrong she was.

"Has my fiancé been notified of where I am?" she asked him.

"Dorothy called him last night to inform him of your accident," Duo told her. "He won't be able to get over here until this afternoon."

If she was bothered that the man she was going to marry couldn't take time from his busy life to rush to her side after she had a life-threatening accident, she didn't show it. "What about the Richters? Did anyone call them?"

Duo didn't understand her relationship with them. Then again, when they had been together, she hadn't told her much about herself except during the crash course she had given him before taking him to meet her parents. His life had altered so quickly afterward that he hadn't even had a chance to feel resentful for her secrecy.

When Duo didn't speak, Heero answered. "I'm sure either your mother or your fiancé informed them."

"Please ask Dorothy to send a message to them." She was looking at Heero.

Heero was reluctant to leave them alone, but Duo nodded to him, so he pushed himself up from the chair and after returning it from where he had taken it, he walked out, closing the door behind him. Duo looked at Hilde who was glaring at him. She was angry and for no damn good reason now.

"I heard you two talking about my fiancé as if he were some sort of mastermind criminal."

Duo raised his brows. "I don't recall accusing him of masterminding anything."

She huffed. "Are you saying that you two didn't question whether he was behind the assassination attempt on Hannibal Grey yesterday?"

"I'm not even sure there was an assassination attempt on him," argued Duo. "He wasn't protected and only a near-sighted buffoon would have missed him."

"And what were you saying about an attempt on Andreas?" she demanded. "I didn't hear anything about that."

"Maybe your fiancé didn't want to make you more nervous than you already are," suggested Duo with a shrug.

She visibly stiffened. "My problems are none of your concern."

"You're right, they aren't. Even so, I'd advise you to get a different shrink because the one you have now is poisoning your mind with powerful psychotic drugs."

Hilde fell silent and lowered her eyes, so he felt compelled to say, "I'm sorry. You're right. It's none of my business."

She raised her head and met his gaze. "I found my father moments after he killed himself." When she squeezed her eyes shut, he could imagine how the experience must have affected her. Duo hadn't spoken to the man for more than a quarter hour in total, and he never had a parent to grieve, but he was sorry for Hilde after hearing what he had done.

"I'm sorry, Hilde."

She looked at him. "You should be sorry! He spoke to you more than he did me my whole life!"

"That can't be true."

"It is! I have very little memory of him from my childhood and when I grew older, he was always at the office. If he did join my mother and me for dinner, he didn't speak to either of us. What did he say to you that night? Did he give you any indication of what he was about to do?"

Duo thought about the conversation he had with her father. "He talked about his family's lineage, and he made some negative remarks about orphanages. He told me that he was proud of the stand you took during the war."

"I don't believe that," she said resentfully. "He was adamantly opposed to my decision. I had to ..."

"He knew what you did when you did it and he didn't stop you." She lowered her gaze, but he saw that her lashes were wet with tears. "I didn't mean to upset you, Hilde."

She waved her hand. "I'm more upset that he confided in you."

Duo wondered why Otto Schbeiker had shown him a side that he kept hidden from his own daughter. "He didn't seem depressed at all when we finished our discussion. He gave me the impression that he approved of our relationship, and he said that in the future we could get together to shoot some pool in his game room."

Hilde was frowning as she looked at him. "And he told me that he wanted to speak to me, so why would he kill himself before we did?"

"Have you looked into what happened that night?" he asked curiously. "Did your mother tell you what they spoke about after we left?"

Her eyes widened, and Duo wondered if she had ever spoken to her mother about the night of her father's death. But then she glared at him. "Why do you care? You have a wife and a daughter, so my life is none of your concern. Do you think that just because you saved me I will forget all the lies you told me?"

"Lies? I didn't lie to you, Hilde."

"What about the wife, the gambling and the smuggling? All you ever did was lie to me!"

She was back to being furious, but Duo would rather see that side than the morose woman that needed to be medicated to protect her from her memories and feelings.

"I can't tell you the truth unless you agree not to turn me into the authorities. I only care about Ellie insomuch as she is Mia's mother and I don't want the fallout to land on Mia. And to be honest, I would rather not return to the dungeon for something that is not my fault." Well, some of it might be considered his fault, the part where he acknowledged Ellie as his wife in prison and especially his stupidity in taking their relationship to a level it never should have gone.

She hesitated to agree, and Duo remembered why he had reservations about getting involved with Hilde in the first place. Everything was black and white to her while Duo had grown up in a world with nothing but shades of gray.

Finally, she said, "I agree."

He took a breath. "Okay, then I'll start with why I went to prison."

"I want you to start with explaining why you had a wife when we were together, when I was ready to throw away my heritage to make a life with you."

Duo should have known that the blow she had taken to her womanly pride was going to steer this conversation. "I knew Ellie when we were children. We ran on the streets together, huddled together for warmth with everyone else in our pack, and when we were taken in, she cleaned up nicely. Ellie was a smooth talker, so it didn't take long for her to be adopted."

"Why did you marry her? And why didn't you tell me you were married?"

This was the part that Hilde wasn't going to believe, and if she did, she might blame him. "I never married her."

She gasped. "That is a lie! I saw the record of your marriage. You can't even tell me the truth now."

"I'm telling you the truth," he said calmly. "Before she came to see me in prison, I hadn't seen Ellie since her adoption. I didn't question how she convinced the warden that she was my wife. I assumed she used the same charm on him that she used on me to make me think she was visiting me in prison to help me."

"I saw that charm in court," Hilde said with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

Duo hung his head. "I was stupid, and I was lonely. She knew that and took advantage of me. All she really wanted was ... well ..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and forced himself to look at her. "She needed a baby to convince some rich guy that he got her pregnant so that he would take care of her. I didn't know that at the time. I thought we just had a moment together."

Hilde muttered something that suspiciously sounded like "You're an idiot."

Since she hadn't meant for him to hear, he didn't respond before he continued. What would he say anyway? He had been an idiot. "I guess I was a stand-in for her rich mark when all her efforts with him failed. And having my baby meant that she could claim my military benefits to support my child. In the end, her benefactor found out that Mia was not his and he turned Ellie and Mia onto the streets with only my money to support them."

"Are you telling me that you didn't marry her, that you only ..." She raked him with a disgusted look. "only got her pregnant?"

"She talked a clerk in the government office into forging a record of our marriage. I don't even know how she knew about you, but she dated the record prior to our involvement."

"Involvement," Hilde repeated woodenly. "That's all what was between us has been reduced to."

"Not by my choice," he told her fiercely. She had hurt him by turning her back on him, but he still had feelings for her. Telling her now would only make matters worse. She was engaged to a powerful Teuton and he was married to Ellie whether he wanted to be or not.

"You didn't expose her because doing so would send both you and her to prison and put Mia in the hands of child protection services," guessed Hilde with a sigh. "What are you going to do about it? I had lunch with your daughter yesterday and she told me that her mother hasn't returned. Where did she go? Are you aware that you will lose everything you paid to keep her from going to jail if she breaks the conditions of her bond?"

"I didn't think I would ever see that money again anyway," admitted Duo. "I took her back to where Mia and I are living with Madame Chantal above the restaurant, but she stayed long enough to shower and change before going back to Robert Cameron. I haven't seen or heard from her in two days, and since she hasn't been arrested, I will assume that he took her back."

"You can't keep up this sham of a marriage," Hilde told him.

"I don't have a choice." He was afraid he was right about Hilde, that she still couldn't see anything but black and white.

But she surprised him. "When I am able to get back to work I will make some inquiries on your behalf."

"Aren't you a corporate lawyer?" he asked curiously. "I thought you were just slumming in court to get some good public relations for your firm."

Hilde pressed her lips together for a moment and he could see by the flaring of her nostrils that something had irritated her, and then she said, "I'm quitting. They are all a bunch of greedy sanctimonious bastards. The only reason they hired me in the first place was because of my father. I didn't even want to study corporate law, but Werner talked me into it because my father had practiced it."

"Despite how Ellie must have treated you, you still did your best to defend her, just as you did the others that morning," Duo told her. "If you had defended me six years ago, maybe I wouldn't have been sent to prison."

"I doubt any lawyer could have kept you out of prison after everything you did," Hilde told him with a judgmental look.

Duo shared the guilt where Ellie was concerned, but he hadn't deserved to be put in prison, so now his own temper flared. "You believe I did everything they accused me of? When would I have had time to do it? We spent almost every minute together! I didn't have gambling debts and I didn't traffic in stolen goods." Duo was angry that she believed all the lies that had been told about him.

"What about the witnesses?" she asked, equally angry in her belief in his guilt.

"What about them? You think someone couldn't have paid even my former friends to lie about me? Then you don't know the people of Sector 13 at all. They would sell their own children if they could make money. Isn't Ellie proof enough?" He saw that she didn't want to or couldn't believe that the justice system on the colony was not only flawed, but corrupt. "I thought we knew each other, Hilde. Remember, you were the one keeping secrets from me, not the other way around."

"My secrets weren't illegal!"

A soft knock at the door preceded its opening, and Dorothy Catalonia slipped inside. "Duo, I thought I should let you know that Hilde's fiancé and mother are in the lobby waiting for permission to use the elevator. You should use the service elevator to leave."

"That would be an excellent idea," snapped Hilde.

Duo stood. "Don't worry. I won't be around for the boy wonder from Sector 2 to ask why I am here. However, with Mia playing with Jamila, I have the perfect excuse. Maybe I should stick around a little longer so that I can catch up with your mother or thank Andreas Becker for expertly arguing that I deserved more than the maximum prison sentence for crimes I didn't commit."

Dorothy snagged his arm. "I don't want colony police called to the penthouse suite. The media would get the story wrong and accuse Quatre and me of a domestic squabble."

Without looking at Hilde again, steaming that she didn't believe him, Duo allowed her to pull him from the room, but he caught sight of Hilde combing through her hair with her fingers and straightening the nightgown that Dorothy helped her into her during one of her lucid moments before the drugs had worn off. She was making herself presentable for a bastard that might have been responsible for the massacre in Sector 10 while she refused to consider that he might be innocent of the crimes that had sent him to prison.

Heero was waiting for him at the service elevator. "Let's go. We can head down to Relena's suite to discuss what you should do next. Maybe that can help you cool down."

Duo punched the code to the elevator with more force than necessary. "I don't need to cool down."

"The shouting we heard coming from the room tells me otherwise." Heero raised a brow at him. "What kind of man yells at a woman with a concussion?"

"The kind of man that is scum that gets swept into prison on this colony for no reason," grumbled Duo. He was already feeling guilty about how he spoke to Hilde, but dammit, she started it.

Heero put his hand on Duo's shoulder as they entered the elevator together. "Don't beat yourself up over it. She was winning the argument anyway."


	15. Chapter 14

**FOURTEEN**

Duo was hardly in the mood to make plans with Heero, but he went with him anyway and by the time they reached Relena's enormous suite a few floors down, he realized that work was what he needed to get his mind off Hilde. When they exited the service elevator, Heero led him to one of the suites that took up the floor and used his own keycard to let them in. Relena must have heard them at the door because when they entered, they found her sitting on a chair wearing a clingy dressing gown that was provocatively open most of the way down the front. Her crossed legs were revealed all the way up to her thighs, and the height of her spiked heeled sandals had Duo wondering how anyone could walk in them. There was no doubt in Duo's mind that she wasn't expecting Heero to bring a friend because she had one filled champagne flute on the small round table beside the chair while she was sipping from another.

Seeing Duo, she choked on the champagne, knocked over the glass in her haste to set it aside so that she could pull the gown together, and she shot Heero a glare before trying to stomp from the room without even greeting either of them. Duo winced when she lost her balance on the stilt-like heels and she cursed before disappearing into a room.

"I think she was expecting to have more of my time on this trip," remarked Heero wryly.

Duo looked in the direction she had gone. "It's the middle of the afternoon and that's how she's greeting you? If I were you, I would pay a little more attention to her."

Heero raised a brow. "Are you giving me relationship advice after the debacle I just heard between you and Hilde Schbeiker?"

"Hey. Hilde and I don't have a relationship."

"No, you don't. Try to remember that. As for Relena, after what happened yesterday, I may have even less time for her." Heero sat on the couch facing the chair that Relena had vacated and Duo sat on the chair. "The Earth Sphere United Nation is negotiating with the colony to let the Preventers investigate the causes for what happened in Sector 10."

"There is pushback from the inner sectors," said Relena who walked in wearing a fuzzy pink bathrobe. Duo must have shown his surprise because she frowned at him. "What? This is comfortable."

"What you were wearing before looked comfortable," he said with an exaggerated leer for Heero's benefit.

Relena laughed and Heero didn't look pleased at all by their exchange. "Maxwell, do you want me to turn you inside out?"

"Oooh! I like it when you are jealous!" Relena sat on the couch next to Heero and slipped her arm around his waist. "Why don't you send Duo on his way with something to do, and we can order a meal from the restaurant across the street. With Duo here, we can be sure that he won't have a hand in preparing it."

"Ouch! That sounds like you don't trust my cooking. The chef says I have a promising career as a pourriger."

Relena rolled her eyes at his horrendous pronunciation. "Potager. And I will be sure not to order soup when I dine there." She reached down to rub Heero's knee as she leaned in close to him. "I mean it, Heero. We are dining and sleeping together tonight. You're not leaving me to suffer through meals with self-important Teuton windbags and sleeping alone while you hang out with your new pals at the Preventer office."

"They are not my pals, they are Preventer agents and my subordinates," he told her.

She stood up. "I want you to myself now." Relena looked at Duo. "Don't bother him for the next twelve to fourteen hours or I will personally get you thrown back in prison."

Duo chuckled as he saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

They both watched her saunter from the room, and since she was barefoot, her exit was more provocative even though what she was wearing was anything but sexy. By the time Heero looked back at Duo, he had taken his eyes off the direction Relena had gone.

"I want you to go back to Sector 10 and question Hannibal Grey to be sure that he had nothing to do with the attack. During a campaign like this, I wouldn't put it past him to have orchestrated the riot."

"His rhetoric stirred the crowd, but there is no way the man has contacts with colony military, so he couldn't have planned what happened." Duo stood. "I'll speak to him, but I'll snoop around in the sector to find out if anybody else has any information. Have fun with Relena."

Duo used the service elevator and the back door to leave the building. Dorothy and Quatre had already insisted that he leave Mia with them again, and while he felt guilty about leaving her in their care, they were happy to have her because she was a good influence on their daughter. Jamila had been acting up, they suspected, because she had to share their affections with her baby brother. She didn't get much of a chance to play with other children because of the excessive security both parents insisted for her after her kidnapping. Meeting Mia was the best thing for her at the right time in her life. Duo agreed, but in his case, it was for Mia. Until she met Jamila, she only had Teddy and Miss Pinky to talk to aside from Duo. Now she had a real friend. Later he might head back to the hotel to find out if she wanted to return home with him, but he wouldn't press her when he knew she enjoyed being with Jamila. Dorothy told him that she had to warn the girls several times to stop giggling and get to sleep the previous night while Duo was watching over Hilde. He suspected that Hilde would be leaving the hotel with her family, so he might return to at least give Mia a goodnight kiss.

He entered the restaurant through the back door, chatted with a few of his co-workers and was headed out of the kitchen when Madame Chantal stopped him. "How is Miss Schbeiker?"

"She's better," Feeling good enough to argue, but he didn't tell her that. "When her mother and fiancé arrived, I left, but Mia will be staying with the Winners again."

Madame Chantal nodded. "Having a friend is good for her, and while the Winners are on the colony, you can have some time to yourself. You can go out with friends, maybe ask the new waitress, Bridget, if she would like to spend some time with you. I'm sure she would enjoy a walk in the park. I was there yesterday and saw that the real cherry trees are blooming."

Duo was so uninterested in the women at the restaurant that he didn't even know who Bridget was. He had work to do for Heero although he wasn't planning to return to Sector 10 until tomorrow. "I'll think about it," he told her.

She smiled brightly. "She's a nice girl, and she likes children."

Why did he get the idea that she was trying to meddle in his love life?

Suddenly she frowned and said, "I'm sorry to tell you that Ellie returned about a half hour ago."

There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. After his argument with Hilde, he didn't want to have another one with Ellie. "I thought she would be back sooner or later, I expected her to be tossed out sooner."

"She's not alone. She brought a guest."

He was mortified that Ellie would bring a customer to Madame Chantal's apartment. "I'm sorry. I will find another place to live." Where that would be when he didn't have any money was a mystery, but he wouldn't let Ellie bring men to Madame Chantal's home.

"She didn't ask for her job back," Madame Chantal remarked. "Perhaps she has found work elsewhere."

"I will talk to her." Duo knew what kind of job Ellie was well qualified for, one that was easier than singing in a nightclub where she was expected to show up for work.

Madame Chantal patted his shoulder and left him to return to the dining room so that she could greet the evening customers. Duo didn't have time for this complication with Ellie, but she had to be dealt with. As he climbed the steps, he tried to think of how he could get money for a place to live. He wasn't going to do anything illegal, and he couldn't expect Heero to give him an advance, especially since Duo was working undercover and probably wasn't on the payroll. The only thing he could do was to swallow his pride and ask Dorothy Catalonia for a loan. He hadn't asked her for anything when he helped her shortly after his release from prison. He never intended to, but now he had no choice.

When he came into the apartment, he was surprised to see Ellie sitting at the kitchen table, and with her was the man he had seen her with but had never met.

Noticing him, she rose and so did Robert Cameron. "Duo, you're back."

"That's obvious," he said and nodded to the other man. "What is he doing here?"

The middle-aged businessman stepped forward with his hand outstretched. "We haven't met. I am Robert Cameron."

When Duo didn't take his hand, he let his arm fall to his side. "I don't know why you think this should be a cordial meeting. Ellie is my wife." Claiming her as his wife sounded wrong, but greeting the man as if nothing had happened after he had her arrested, wiping out Duo's savings to keep her out of jail, was worse.

Ellie started forward, but Cameron put out his arm to stop her. "Let me handle this."

"Handle what?" asked Duo, looking past him to Ellie. "What is going on?" When she didn't speak, he looked back to Cameron.

"I am fully aware of your history with Ellie," the other man told him.

Duo shot Ellie a glare before looking back at him. "What do you want from me? I don't have any money left."

Cameron turned to pick up a digital tablet that was lying on the table. "I have gone through a great deal of trouble and quite a bit of money to expedite a divorce. I have taken a position on Earth and I want to take Ellie with me as my wife."

"Your wife?" Duo was incredulous. Ellie was wringing her hands in front of her, probably because for once in their relationship, he held the upper hand. She needed him to sign the divorce decree or Duo was sure that Robert Cameron would leave her behind.

The older man stepped between them. "I have never felt this way for a woman. I knew the first time I saw her in the nightclub that I wanted to spend my life with her."

"Really? You have a funny way of showing it," said Duo. "Last I heard you had her arrested and charged with grand larceny."

He ran a nervous hand through his graying hair and glanced back at Ellie before he responded. "I told her how I felt after the charity gala. I hoped she felt the same and that she would be willing to ask you for a divorce so that we could be together. That is when she told me the truth about her marriage to you and everything she had done. I was shocked and angry. We fought, and she left. I thought that maybe she was using me like she used you, so I contacted the police."

Duo looked at Ellie. "That isn't what you told me."

"I lied," she admitted unabashedly.

"Why am I not surprised?" Duo looked back at Robert Cameron. "So she crawled back to you begging for forgiveness and you forgave her?"

"I realized what a fool I had been to drive her away. My feelings hadn't changed for her, and when she came back to get her clothing, we had a long, honest talk about what we feel for each other. We want the same thing, to be together. I dropped the charges, and now you will be able to get the bond back. I will also reimburse you for any non-refundable fees."

Duo was relieved to hear that, but he couldn't believe Cameron would trust her. "Are you crazy? If she told you everything she's done, then you know exactly what she is capable of."

Cameron reached out to take Ellie's hand. "I love her, and I am sure she loves me."

The smile they shared nauseated Duo. He reached out to take the digital tablet where he saw a lot of legal language. "I don't want to read this. Am I going to bite myself in the ass again if I sign something for you Ellie?"

"Not this time," she told him, moving closer to Cameron. "I am leaving to make my life with Robert. I will never return to this colony and I don't want any ties here."

Duo looked back at the decree and he flipped through it until he saw what he was looking for. "You're giving me full custody of Mia?"

"You love Mia and she loves you," said Ellie. "I couldn't separate you."

"You couldn't separate us?" he scoffed. "Don't lie now, Ellie. You don't want Mia."

"Does it matter?" asked Cameron as he slipped an arm around Ellie's waist as if she needed comforting. "I don't agree with her giving up rights to Mia, but she insisted. If she doesn't want to be a mother to your daughter, nothing you or I can say will convince her otherwise."

"What will I tell Mia?" asked Duo, angry for his daughter's sake that her mother was abandoning her.

When Ellie didn't speak, Cameron did. "Tell her that her mother did what was best for her. If she should ever come to Earth, then I would welcome her visit. If you wish to keep in contact with us, I will be sure to let you know where we are."

Duo stared down at the document, torn between being elated that Ellie was finally getting out of his life and hurt that she was leaving Ellie without a mother, such as she was. He was going to sign it because he needed to close this ugly chapter in his life, but he wanted something first.

He looked at Cameron. "I'm not signing this until I get the apology I deserve. I've never heard anything from Ellie except that it was my fault for letting her manipulate me, and I have been living this last year worrying that one day she was going to get tired of me and not only was I going to end up in prison, but that she was going to put Mia in an orphanage." Duo looked at her. "Do you know how that made me feel, to know that you would condemn my daughter to that life? How could you even hold that over my head after you suffered as much as I did?" Ellie looked away, but not before Duo had the satisfaction of seeing her shame.

"If I don't sign this," he continued, "then you will have to come clean about how you managed to marry me, and do you think the government will be pleased by how you swindled it for the benefits for my child by misrepresenting our relationship?"

She took a step towards him, furious. This was the Ellie he knew, the Ellie that Robert Cameron should see before committing his life to her. "You wouldn't dare! You would end up in prison again."

"The prison you put me in, Ellie, was far worse than the dungeon."

Ellie looked at Cameron whose face was hard and unreadable, and then she looked back at Duo. She took a calming breath before saying, "I'm sorry, Duo. I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened to my family, and I shouldn't have used you. Mia never should have been ..."

"Leave her out of this!" Duo didn't want her to regret having Mia because he loved her too much to hear someone say that she should not have been born. He picked up the tablet, scribbled his name and thrust it at Robert Cameron. "Good luck with her. You're going to need it."

The man handed him a money card. "There should be enough credit loaded to reimburse you for the trouble I caused you in charging Ellie for stealing the necklace. We will be leaving the colony tomorrow morning on the first transport headed for Earth."

Ellie didn't say anything more to him before she left with Robert Cameron, and Duo was glad. The only thing he wanted to hear from her was an apology and he had gotten it. With the divorce and his custody of Mia, he would get his benefits back and he would have enough money to find a place for him and Mia to live without having to rely on Madame Chantal's generosity. But even though Duo thought there was closure between him and Ellie, he still had to consider what was best for Mia.

The following morning at what Dorothy Catalonia called an ungodly hour when he showed up at the penthouse suite, Duo took his sleeping daughter from the bed she was sharing with Jamila and would have left with her wearing her pajamas if Dorothy hadn't stopped him and quickly dressed her. All he told Quatre and Dorothy was that they had something important to do that morning.

He took his groggy daughter to the rail station and bought tickets to the space port. Because Mia slept on his lap the entire hour they were on the train, Duo didn't have a chance to tell her where they were going and why, and when they reached their destination, he carried her off without her opening her eyes. She finally awoke at the security checkpoint where he was delayed while the guards checked his standing in the parole system, and not finding any reason to detain him, they let him inside the departure lobby where passengers waited with friends and family for the shuttle that would take them to the transport docked in space.

A couple dozen people waited for the order to board the shuttle along with those that had come to wish them a safe trip. Duo spotted Ellie and Robert Cameron standing together, engrossed in each other. Mia seemed confused by where she was, so Duo sat her down on a bench and squatted before her so that they were eye to eye.

"Mia, your mother is leaving the colony today."

"Mama is here?" she asked with wide-eyed surprise. "Will I see her?"

Duo wasn't going to give Ellie a choice. "Yes. You are going to say good-bye to her."

He expected tears, but all he saw was resignation in her eyes. "Mama doesn't want to be with me."

Duo held her small hands in his. "Don't believe that, Mia. Your mama is going to Earth, and she knew that I wanted you to be with me. I am happy that you are staying with me. I don't know what I would do without you."

Mia put her small arms around his neck and pressed her face under his chin. "Don't be sad, papa. I will never leave you."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and lifted her, propped her on his hip and headed towards Ellie. The moment she saw him, the smile she had been sharing with Cameron faded, and she tugged on his arm. He looked in the direction she had indicated with a nod, and he looked surprised to see them.

When they reached them, Duo spoke before Ellie could because he didn't want her to say something that would hurt Mia. "I thought Mia should have the chance to say good-bye."

Cameron responded. "Thank you."

Ellie should have thanked him, and Ellie should have thought about seeing her daughter at least one last time, but even now she looked as though she would rather be shot out into space.

Mia was still holding onto Duo with her arms around his neck, but she looked at Ellie. "Mama, papa told me that you are going to Earth."

Ellie looked at Cameron helplessly, but he did not speak for her this time. She looked back at Mia. "Yes, Mia, I am going to Earth to live with Robert. Your papa and I are not going to be together anymore."

"Papa says I can stay with him," said Mia quietly.

"Yes. I think you will be happier with papa."

At least Ellie could be honest.

"Thank you, mama. I hope you will be happy." She reached out one of her small arms to Ellie who hesitated before giving her an awkward hug and kiss on the cheek.

Ellie stepped back and said to Duo's surprise, "Someday, Mia, if you want to visit me, I hope your father will bring you to Earth."

At that moment there was an announcement for the passengers to board the shuttle that would take them to the transport in the docking bay. Cameron nodded respectfully to Duo before he took Ellie's arm to lead her away, and she surprised Duo by turning around to look at them. Mia waved to her as Duo gave her a nod to thank her for not being a bitch to her daughter. Ellie returned the nod before disappearing in the crowd boarding the shuttle.

Duo took Mia to the enormous viewing window where loved ones could watch the transport in space being readied for the trip to Earth that would take several days. Mia was amazed by the view of space and especially of the planet and moon they could see in the distance. Duo was telling her about Earth when the shuttle left the station and he pointed it out to her. The docking process did not take long, and then the transport slowly eased away from the colony and oriented itself towards Earth before it hit the thrusters to propel it forward.

Mia waved to the departing transport. "Good-bye, mama."

Duo wanted to cry for his sweet child who might never know a mother's love. "I'll take you to visit her someday." Someday when his parole had come to an end and he would be allowed to leave the colony. Someday when he might have enough money to afford passage on the transport.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his. "Will you be angry if I never want to go to Earth?"

That question spoke volumes about how Ellie had either mistreated Mia or had ignored her so much that Mia did not feel a connection to her. Duo would rather she not ever see Ellie again, but he would not say that for Mia to hear. Instead, he said, "I think you will change your mind in the future. We all want to know where we came from, Mia, and you know where to go to find your roots."

She was too young to understand, but some day she would. Duo sometimes wanted to know about his own roots, but he might never know. He hadn't really given it any thought until his discussion with Otto Schbeiker, and he envied how the man could trace his family back for hundreds of years. Duo couldn't even identify his own parents.

"I can't see them anymore," announced Mia as she laid her head against Duo's chest.

Duo stared out into space, and for the first time since leaving prison, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He was finally free.


	16. Chapter 15

**FIFTEEN**

Hilde was furious when Duo left without giving her a reasonable explanation for anything that he had done. She couldn't believe his story about Ellie predating their marriage license. If Ellie could create an official public document just by letting some undersexed clerk ogle her breasts, then how could any governmental record be trusted?

But she couldn't think about that now because she could hear Quatre Winner explaining to Andreas and her mother how she had joined them at poolside for a drink to discuss business as they watched the children splashing in the pool. According to Quatre, Hilde had slipped on water on the pool deck as she was leaving, hitting her head and losing consciousness. Andreas demanded to know why they hadn't called him earlier, sounding every bit like a prosecuting attorney. He was a fool if he thought he could unnerve Dorothy Catalonia who smoothly explained that Hilde insisted that he not be bothered. Hilde still resented the Winners for goading her into chasing after Duo all the way to Sector 10 and headlong into a riot that turned into a massacre, but she was glad they knew how to spin a story. The little girls, Jamila and Mia, retold the story for corroboration, the latter with such drama that Hilde almost laughed until she remembered who her father was and how good he was at lying. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

The door opened, and as Dorothy led Andreas and her mother into the room, Hilde pushed herself up so that she could face them. "Andreas, mother, what are you doing here?" she asked as if she were surprised. She frowned at Dorothy. "I told you not to bother them."

"I thought they should know what happened," said Dorothy. "I'll give you some privacy, but before I go, can I get anybody anything?"

"A vodka, straight," ordered Ingrid as she sat on a chair and began to take off her gloves.

Dorothy blinked, probably surprised by her request so early in the day, and then she told her, "We do not have alcohol because my husband's religion forbids it."

"That is uncivilized," muttered Ingrid Schbeiker.

"Can I get you some water?"

"If you must, but only in the form of ice cubes with my vodka."

Dorothy glanced briefly at Hilde before saying, "I will call room service for you."

After she had gone and closed the door, Hilde glared at her mother. "That was rude."

"Do you know what I think is rude? Interrupting my plans. I was having a pleasant visit with that handsome young acrobat from the circus that you introduced me to at the Winner Foundation gala when I got the call about your accident. I told him that he should wait for me, but he left."

Hilde squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment. "You were entertaining Triton Bloom?"

Ingrid laughed at her discomfiture. "I couldn't let such a delicious man get away without taking a taste."

Andreas moved so that he was between Hilde and her mother. Sitting on the edge of the bed he reached out to take her hands. "How are you feeling?"

"The doctor said that I have a concussion and that I need to take it easy. He gave me something for the pain, so I'm feeling better."

"How odd that you were drinking when you slipped," commented her mother, and looking past Andreas, Hilde saw that she was watching her shrewdly.

"I was drinking ice tea," Hilde said. "My slipping had nothing to do with alcohol."

"Too bad. For a moment I had some hope for you."

Andreas raised Hilde's hands to his lips, drawing her attention from her mother. "I am taking you home so that there will be someone there to care for you."

"You're taking time off to watch over me?" Hilde was surprised and touched by his thoughtfulness.

He squeezed her hands. "I meant that I would take you to stay with your mother. I have a full schedule for the next two weeks. I can't miss any of my speaking engagements. I had to answer a lot of questions about your absence at my rally yesterday. Kurt called your phone at least a dozen times trying to find you, but you didn't answer." He seemed to be chastising her, and although she deserved it, he only knew that she had an accident that inconvenienced him.

But she was at fault for that inconvenience, so she couldn't be angry. The previous day after Dorothy's visit and order to have lunch with her, Hilde had been so preoccupied by what she would say to Duo during their meeting at Le Beau Papillon that she had forgotten her phone on her desk. She hadn't been concerned because there was a phone in the car, but she had abandoned the car when she went to Sector 10.

"I forgot my phone at the office," she told him, glad that she didn't have to lie about that. "And I didn't return to the car to check my messages. Don't blame the Winners for not letting you know what happened. I didn't want to interrupt your rally."

"You were right, of course. I would have had to send Kurt to look after you." How could he be expected to take time from his busy schedule when she might need him? Would he send Kurt to stand in at their wedding? Would Kurt be with her at their honeymoon while he held another rally?

Hilde thought of how she had awakened to find Duo at her bedside. He must have known that she had gone to Sector 10 to confront him, and he could have gotten into trouble with the police when the riot broke out, but instead of saving himself, he had risked his freedom to save her. What was she thinking? He was a liar and a con man! If he helped her, it was to ease his conscience if he even had any.

The conversation he had been having with Heero Yuy confused her. What she heard led her to believe that Duo was working as a Preventer agent again, but she doubted the criminal reform office would allow him to do that. Then again, Heero Yuy could and did whatever he wanted, and because Duo was his friend, he could have used his influence to get him the job. She had read his moving testimony on Duo's behalf at his trial, a tribute that he did not deserve after what he had done. He was and always would be a lowlife bastard from the outermost sector.

That thought stunned her. Why was she thinking like her mother now? She hadn't cared before who he was and where he was from, but now it seemed like an obstacle that she couldn't get around. Hilde was so disgusted by how warped her opinions had become that she looked away from Andreas. He epitomized everything she had once despised about the colony, and yet here she was engaged to him. How had she allowed that to happen?

Then she remembered Duo's words _. "I'd advise you to get a different shrink because the one you have now is poisoning your mind with powerful psychotic drugs."_ He had to be lying! The medication helped her forget the horror of what she had seen the night her father had taken his own life. The memory of it usually put her in a crippling state of panic that could only be alleviated by her pills. Why wasn't she feeling it now?

"You may not have had a chance to see or hear the news," Andreas was saying, "but there was a terrible riot in Sector 10 yesterday at my opponent's campaign rally."

"I'm not surprised," remarked her mother with a sniff. "That rabble can't think logically. All they do is react, like a pack of ill-bred wild dogs. Eat, fight and breed, that's what they do, day after day."

Outraged, Hilde was about to defend the people her mother maligned, but she checked the impulse. Andreas might wonder why she cared. Had she cared before her medication had worn off? What else was the drug keeping her from doing?

"Be that as it may," said Andreas, obviously in agreement with Ingrid Schbeiker, "Hannibal Grey is calling for an investigation into the use of the colony guard to quell the riot."

Choosing her words carefully so that he didn't realize she knew more about what happened at the rally than she should, Hilde asked, "How much property damage and injury was there at the rally before the military was called in?"

She was sure that she sounded ignorant while pointing out the travesty in what had happened in the sector. There hadn't been any damage, just people shouting for a decent living that they had been denied, pushing against an excessive police presence. She wished she could throw that in Andreas' face, but she didn't know how he would react to hearing that she had gone to Sector 10 instead of his rally. He would demand to know why she had done it, and what could she say? Certainly not that she had followed a former lover who had deceived and used her.

 _Used you for what?_ a voice from somewhere deep inside asked.

Before she could consider how she had become so prejudiced against Duo, the door opened to Quatre Winner. "You have more visitors." He also had a tray with a glass which he held out to Hilde's mother. She took the glass with a grateful smile although she watched him over the rim as she promptly drained half of it.

Quatre ignored her as he looked at Hilde. "Do you want me to send in Werner and Lina Richter or should we have them wait?"

"Send them in," Hilde answered before her mother could voice her opinion. Although she tolerated them, Ingrid did not like the Richters, which she proved by downing the rest of her drink and nearly slamming the glass on the table beside her chair.

When Quatre left, Ingrid remarked, "You made some very attractive friends when you were away from the colony, Hilde." She looked at Hilde who was speechless with disgust. "Have the Winners retained your services? That would give me the perfect excuse to invite Mr. Winner for dinner some evening."

Werner and Lina's entrance into the room prevented Hilde from warning her mother that Quatre Winner's wife was a dangerous woman. Telling her that Quatre wouldn't even consider cheating on his wife would only make her more determined.

"Oh, Hilde, what happened to you!" exclaimed Lina as she hurried around the other side of the bed so that she could draw Hilde into a hug. She brushed the hair from Hilde's face and gingerly searched for the lump on her head. Finding it, she made a sound of compassion and pressed her lips to Hilde's temple. "My poor dear!"

"I'm alright," Hilde told her, embarrassed by her attention and yet feeling comforted at the same time.

"I called the doctor who treated you immediately to learn of your condition," said Werner. "I was relieved to hear that you would be fine with rest. I insist that you stay with us during your recuperation. I have already made arrangements for my car to be brought around back."

"That won't be necessary," said Andreas, his voice tight with irritation. "She will be going home to her mother."

"A delight, to be sure," muttered Ingrid.

Lina stood, and Hilde could see by her flaring nostrils that she was furious, and she shot her husband a look that made him speak. "Nonsense. We have already hired a doctor and a nurse to watch over her until she has completely recovered."

"I am her fiancé," Andreas reminded him tersely. "I think her mother should take care of her."

Hilde didn't know why she was seeing tension between Werner and Andreas, but they were glaring at each other as if they were dogs about to fight over a bone. "I don't need all this fuss."

Lina took her hands and squeezed them. "Werner and I want to give you the best care available."

While it was true that she didn't feel as though she needed the fuss, Hilde would rather stay with the Richters than watch her mother entertaining young men, especially Triton Bloom, in her father's home.

Hilde looked at Andreas beseechingly. "It will only be for a few days and then I will be back at my apartment."

He stood abruptly. "Very well. I will let you have your way."

Let her have her way? When did he think he could dictate to her what she could and couldn't do? Suddenly the diamond ring on her finger was feeling like an impossible weight that she wanted to take off and throw in his too handsome face.

"You are invited, of course, to spend those days with us," Werner told Andreas with a smile that belied his words, and Hilde suspected that he didn't intend for Andreas to accept.

Andreas returned the older man's smile, and he hesitated for moment which seemed to irritate Werner before he said, "You know that I am quite busy."

"Another reason for her to stay with us where she can get the attention she needs." Lina bent to kiss Hilde again and she was reminded of times when she was a child playing at the Richter home when Lina would fuss over her if she got a bump or a bruise. Her own mother had never shown her that kind of concern for her well-being, but then Ingrid didn't allow her to play 'like some sort of monkey'. If she hadn't spent so much time at the Richter home, she would have had a completely miserable childhood.

"Then it is settled," announced Werner. "The car is waiting." He went around the side of the bed where his wife was sitting. "I will carry you, my dear child. We'll take the service elevator."

"I can carry her," said Andreas as he reached down for Hilde, but a warning look from Werner stopped him, and he straightened abruptly.

"You will thank the Winners for their hospitality and for taking such good care of Hilde after her accident," Werner ordered him. "Being on their good side would be a boon for your campaign after yesterday's disaster in Sector 10."

"I had nothing to do with that," snapped Andreas irritably as he ran a hand through his hair. "And yet the only questions I get from the press are about that damned rally!"

"You'll have to answer even more questions because Relena Darlian is calling for an investigation on behalf of the Earth Sphere United Nation." He gave Andreas a stern look. "I hope you have some answers that they find acceptable."

Andreas didn't respond before spinning on his heel and walking out. Werner watched him leave and then looked at Ingrid. "I'm surprised that you tore yourself away from your amusements to be at your daughter's bedside."

Ingrid shrugged. "I hardly had a choice. My amusement for the day left when I was informed of her accident."

"Nobody is stopping you from finding someone else."

Taking that as the dismissal it was meant to be, Ingrid stood, and without even glancing at Hilde, she left, and Hilde could hear through the open door how she flirted with Quatre Winner as she thanked him and Dorothy for looking after her daughter. Hilde couldn't relax until she no longer heard her voice.

Dorothy stepped in holding Hilde's clothing from the previous day on a hanger and there was a robe hanging over her arm. "Here are her things and a robe for her to wear since I doubt she will want to dress before leaving."

"Thank you for everything," Hilde told her. She was especially thankful that Dorothy had orchestrated the cover for her ridiculous visit to Sector 10. She may have been instrumental in her going there in the first place, but Dorothy could not have foreseen what would happen, and ultimately, it had been Hilde's choice to go. She could have returned to her apartment, taken her medication and napped in a drugged stupor. Thanks to Dorothy's meddling in her life, she was more clear-headed than she had been since the night of her father's death.

After Dorothy left, Lina helped Hilde to her feet and because she was light-headed, either from the pain medication or from the injury, Werner quickly reached out to steady her while Lina helped her into the robe. Then Werner lifted her in his arms and carried her out.

As Quatre guided them to the service elevator, Hilde looked over Werner's shoulder and saw the two little girls poke their blond and dark-haired heads out of a room for just a moment before they disappeared back inside. Hilde was struck with a pang of guilt about the uncharitable thought she had about Duo's daughter when all the girl had done was save her from an awkward explanation. She should have felt guilty that Mia had lied on her behalf instead of painting her with the same dark brush she did her father.

During the ride to the Richter residence, Hilde rested with her head against Werner's chest, his arm protectively around her as Lina held her hand. Feeling Werner's heartbeat against her cheek and hearing its even rhythm, she was comforted and grew drowsy. She was glad that they had come to take her home because she could not imagine how unpleasant the experience would have been with her mother and Andreas. Breaking her engagement to him would be impossible during the campaign, but she knew she couldn't marry him. She would have to wait until it was over, and when he was elected, she would tell him that he would have to go to Earth without her.

Hilde would not repeat the mistake her parents had made. When she married, if she did, it would be to a man she loved.

Closing her eyes, she remembered that moment when she and Duo had stood before the door of her family home, when she was sure he had been about to tell her that he loved her. After all that had happened, she couldn't even be sure that the memory was real. Did it matter? Knowing what she did now, she was sure that he would have lied to her. Hilde doubted she could ever trust him, and she was better off with him out of her life.


	17. Chapter 16

**SIXTEEN**

Many hours later, Hilde awoke to find that she was in her room in the Richter home. A nurse sat at her bedside, and when she saw that she was awake, she quickly sent a message on her phone which brought a doctor into her room followed closely by both Lina and Werner. The doctor checked her vitals, flashed a light in her eyes and announced that she was fine. Her head was still aching, so the nurse brought her medication, and when Hilde opened her hand for it as she took the glass of water from her, the woman dropped two pills in her hand, one of them her anti-anxiety medication.

Hilde looked up to find everyone watching her, and not wanting to take the pill that Duo told her was dangerous, she raised her hand to her mouth, but at the last second, she trapped the anti-anxiety pill beneath her thumb. When she was drinking the water, she 'accidentally' spilled it. The nurse hurried to her with a towel to wipe up the water, and when everyone was distracted, Hilde pushed her hand beneath her where she left the pill. She felt guilty about deceiving Werner and Lina when they were only trying to help. But given how clear her thoughts were since she had stopped taking the anti-anxiety pills, she had to believe that what Duo told her about them was true. When she fully recovered, she intended to go to Dr. Koenig and demand to know why he was prescribing her powerful, illegal drugs.

For the next four days, she remained in bed with the nurse nearby to get her anything she needed. The doctor checked on her frequently, and on the morning of the fifth day, he told her she could leave bed, but that she should limit herself to only a few hours of work if she felt it necessary. Hilde didn't want to go back to the office, but she didn't know how to tell Werner that she was resigning her position at the law firm that he and her father had built.

And she couldn't bring herself to tell Lina that she wasn't going to marry Andreas because the other woman spent most of the time during her visits making plans for the wedding. She had even arranged to bring a designer from Earth to create her wedding gown. That her mother hadn't visited didn't surprise her because she spent as little time as possible with the Richters, and she was relieved that Andreas couldn't take any time from his campaign. He did send her daily bouquets of flowers with cards with hand-written messages telling her how much he missed her and hoped she was feeling better so that she could return to him.

Her clothing had been brought over, so Hilde dressed in a blouse and skirt and joined Werner and Lina in the patio overlooking the garden for breakfast. They were delighted to have her join them for the meal, and while she ate, she listened to Werner tell Lina about his efforts at winning over the delegates from various sectors that would choose the next colony governor. He didn't have to convince the populace because his position was primarily administrative. He didn't make the laws for the colony which were handed to them by the Earth Sphere United Nation, but he was responsible for seeing that they were enforced. Werner was respected all over the colony as a fair judge, and with his impeccable record, there would be no impediment to his being chosen as colony governor. It helped that he was so wealthy that nobody could afford to bribe him which had been a problem in past administrations.

When they finished their discussion, Hilde remarked, "I am sorry to say that I haven't been keeping up on Andreas' campaign. And I would like to know what progress has been made in the investigation into what happened in Sector 10."

Werner sipped his tea for a moment, before looking at her and responding. "Nobody is willing to take the blame for the debacle. The station commander in the Sector 8 guard claimed that he received a call to deploy his men to put a stop to rioting in Sector 10. After what happened on the night of the Winner Foundation charity gala, he did not question the order and sent his men in. The violence escalated rather rapidly."

Hilde wanted to tell them the truth, that the military arrived before there was any violence, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. The crowd had gotten boisterous, but no one had been hurt until colony police began to beat people and the military arrived to shoot them. If Duo hadn't gotten her away from the plaza, she might have been shot.

"A dreadful situation," remarked Lina. "And that fanatic, Hannibal Grey, refuses to take responsibility for the violence he incited. I hope that reasonable people see that giving him a voice in our government would be disastrous."

Hilde clenched her hands into fists in her lap. She couldn't say anything, not just because she didn't want them to know she had been there, but if she started voicing opinions contrary to theirs, they might realize she hadn't been taking the anti-anxiety medication.

"You seem to be feeling better today, my dear," said Werner as if he were reading her thoughts. "Would you like to visit Dr. Koenig?"

Thinking of the medication that he injected into her before their sessions, she wondered what it was and why he did it. She needed to pay him a visit and demand some answers, but she couldn't do that with Werner. "I'd like to wait a few days. I'm not up to going out yet."

Werner dabbed his mouth with a napkin and set it aside before standing. "Let me know when you change your mind. Are you planning to go into the office today?"

Hilde hesitated, and then looked up at him. "I am going to resign my position there."

His brows rose in surprise, but Lina exclaimed with delight. "I was hoping that you would come to that conclusion on your own! You can't continue working there when you are married to Andreas. You will have so many duties as his wife that you won't have time to look after the legal matters of others."

She wanted to deny that was the reason she was quitting, but she knew she would upset them by telling them she wanted to practice criminal defense. Werner had been displeased when he discovered she was studying at the university, and Lena worried for her safety whenever she did pro bono work.

"I thought you were taking on the Winner Foundation as a client," said Werner. "At least that is the impression given to the partners when Dorothy Catalonia came to see you. Was she visiting you for some other reason?"

He had been a good lawyer and judge, so Werner was far too shrewd for comfort, but Hilde said, "We discussed the possibility of my handling their affairs on this colony, but I had to tell them that I was going to leave the firm. We hadn't decided to enter into an agreement before I had my accident."

Lina patted her hand where it rested on the table. "You don't need to worry about that anymore. As soon as you feel rested, you can tell those stuffy old men at the firm that you are going to concentrate on being a good wife, and possibly in the future, a mother."

Hilde thought of the moment when Mia had hugged her father in the alley and she couldn't imagine Andreas giving such a loving embrace to a child. He was too self-absorbed to give any of his time to children, even his own. It didn't matter anyway, because she wasn't going to marry him. If he had children, they would have to be with another woman.

Werner left after giving both his wife and Hilde a kiss. Lina watched him go with a loving smile that warmed Hilde's heart. Her own mother had never given her father that kind of look and Hilde would never be able to feel that way about Andreas. Why was she having these thoughts now? Was it because the anti-anxiety pills weren't clouding her judgment and she could see Andreas for how he really was? If he cared about her, he would have brought the bouquets of flowers himself. He would have rearranged his schedule so that he could be by her side. His proposal had been nothing more than a political stunt. Being from Sector 2, he needed a woman of her breeding to agree to be his wife so that he would be palatable to the society of Sector 1.

"I have a luncheon date with some friends today," Lina told Hilde after he had gone. "Would you like to join us? You know most of the women and I am sure they would love to see you. They might have some ideas for your wedding since some of them have presided over such affairs for their own daughters."

Hilde just couldn't tell Lina that she wasn't going to marry Andreas, especially since she hadn't told him. "I don't feel up to leaving the house."

Lina looked concerned. "Maybe you should go back to bed."

"I'll be fine," she protested. "I might do a little work from home and maybe write out my resignation."

"I can stay here with you," suggested Lina. "I don't really need to go to the luncheon."

Hilde took her hand and squeezed it. "I appreciate all you have done for me, but I won't stand for you changing your plans on my account. I am fine."

Lina's eyes were glistening, and Hilde was afraid she was going to cry. "I think of you as my daughter, Hilde, and you are the only daughter I will ever have. When I heard about your accident, I was frantic with worry. I haven't felt that way since those awful years I didn't know what was happening to you during the war."

Hilde swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. Why couldn't this woman have been her mother? Her own parents hadn't seemed to care when she returned from the war except that she had taken up with a nameless orphan from Sector 13. She wondered if Werner and Lina would have been more accepting of Duo. Maybe she should have taken him to dine with them instead of the Schbeikers.

"I assure you that I am fine now."

Lina let out a long sigh as she rose. "I will be leaving soon, but I will see you later. Don't spend too much time working."

After Hilde finished her breakfast, she returned to her room where she went through her things to find her digital tablet. She went out to the veranda where she could enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful garden. This was the closest on the colony one could get to experiencing what Earth was like, especially when the colony shields were open to allow in sunshine. Even with the rotation of the colony, without the atmosphere that kept Earth safe from the harmful rays from the sun, the people of the colony would suffer from radiation sickness. The design of the colony was the brainchild of both Lina's father and grandfather, and Hilde was honored to know the family as well as she did. Because of them, many thousands of people could make a new life on the colony away from the overcrowding and war on Earth. Hilde wished all those problems had stayed on Earth instead of spilling into space, but among the worst of the problems was the inequality of living conditions. She feared that was a problem that might never be solved.

Sitting on a comfortably padded chair on the veranda enjoying the sunshine with a cup of tea, Hilde picked up her tablet. A brief search of articles concerning the violence in Sector 10 didn't reveal any findings different from what Werner had said, so she opened her office mail. There were several messages offering her wishes to get well, some from clients and others from co-workers. She scanned through the mail to find any work from her clients, and a message from the public defender's office caught her attention. Opening it, she found that it was concerning the grand larceny charge against Ellie Maxwell. The public defender hadn't had a chance to reassign her case, so she was the attorney of record. She was initially worried that she would have to defend the woman herself, but then she saw that Robert Cameron had dropped the charges.

Wondering how Duo felt about his wife taking up with her lover again, she decided to look at the record of his marriage to her again to see if there was anything irregular about it. But when she entered Ellie Maxwell's name, there was a new entry, a recent record of divorce. Not believing it could be true, she called up the decree and saw that had been drawn up by a respected family practice attorney with whom she had gone to school. Reading through it, she learned that Ellie Maxwell and her husband agreed to a divorce whereby neither would be financially obligated to the other and Ellie relinquished all rights to their daughter. Both Duo and Ellie had signed the decree which had been filed three days ago.

Curious about the circumstances, she used her tablet to call the divorce attorney. Although she expected to have to make an appointment to talk to him because he was a busy man, he took her call right away.

"Hilde Schbeiker! I haven't spoken to you in a couple of years although I did see you with your family at the Winner Foundation gala. I didn't want to try to get through your fiancé to greet you."

Hilde smiled at him. "You should have tried, Sam. I would have enjoyed catching up with you."

"I will assume this is not a social call. Do you want me to draw up a pre-nuptial agreement? You must have considerable assets that you should protect upon your marriage."

If she had been in the right state of mind without drugs to cloud her judgement, Hilde would have thought of it herself. Had she married Andreas in that state, he could have gotten his hands on her fortune. "I am calling about another professional matter, but I will keep your offer in mind."

"Would you like me to do some preliminary work?" He was nothing if not tenacious.

"I hadn't given it any thought."

"A mistake, Hilde. Let me help you. You can't afford to be a bride caught up in the craziness of planning a wedding without making the most important decision for your future."

"You're right," she admitted. She wasn't going to marry Andreas, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. Eventually she would marry, and she would have the agreement ready.

"I'll send over the permission forms allowing me to investigate your assets."

Hilde laughed. "Sam, I can see why you are in such high demand."

"I enjoy my work. You must enjoy yours too from all that I have heard in the news about your work for the Phoenix Group."

"There are high and low points." She wasn't going to tell him that she was getting out of the firm. He'd find out soon enough anyway. "Listen, I am calling concerning a pro bono case I had thrust upon me."

"Your pro bono work is criminal defense, isn't it?" He shook his head. "You excelled in those classes. I didn't have the stomach for it. I was surprised when you decided to go corporate."

"I was following in my father's footsteps," she told him. Now when she was thinking clearly, she was amazed that she let herself be talked into doing it when she had always considered his work meaningless pandering to rich bastards. After doing the work for over a year, her opinion hadn't changed.

"I don't know how I can help you with a case."

"I want information on a client of yours, Ellie Maxwell."

By the look on his face, he wasn't going to have to look up any details. "You aren't turning her over to the prosecution, are you? I did a lot of work to get her out of the legal bind she was in, but if you make a fuss, a lot of people are going to suffer needlessly."

Hilde was afraid she wasn't going to like what she heard. "Maybe you can convince me to stay out of it."

"Her life is the usual story of someone born in Sector 13. No parents that can be identified, life on the streets before she was taken in by the Maxwell Church from which she was adopted by a nice couple who felt strongly about helping homeless children. Unfortunately, she ended up back on the streets when her family was killed in a mobile suit raid in their sector."

"You haven't told me anything that puts her in a legal bind," Hilde remarked.

"I'm getting to it. Ellie Maxwell should have been a lawyer with her persuasive smarts. And with her looks, she could convince anybody of anything."

"I already witnessed that in court," Hilde told him wryly. She had been intimidated by Duo's beautiful wife. Even as messed up as she had been that day in court, men couldn't keep their eyes off her.

"She cooked up some scheme to get a rich man over in Sector 3 to take care of her. She met him while working as a waitress, and it didn't take long to get him in her bed. Ellie intended to get pregnant and force him to marry her, but it turned out that he was already married, so she was just going to blackmail him into taking care of her and the baby."

"I saw by her record that she has a daughter," prompted Hilde. She was concerned that Ellie had lied to Duo about Mia.

"Yes, well, he was careful with her, so she turned to an old friend to help her get pregnant. Her rich lover accepted that the baby was his, but then he discovered that in addition to what he was giving her, she was receiving benefits for her baby from another man to whom she was married, and he forced a paternity test. She was out on the street again, but this time with a child."

"He didn't charge her with fraud?" she asked. Part of the story Duo told her was checking out.

"Left the colony with his wife and children and is now living on Earth."

"None of that sounds like reason to employ you for a divorce," commented Hilde.

"Another man wants to marry her, and he doesn't want any question into the legality." Sam leaned closer to the screen as if they were sharing a secret. "She was never actually married. There was no consent from the man she claimed was her husband."

"How can that be?" asked Hilde with a sick feeling in her stomach. If Duo was telling her the truth, she was going to feel even worse.

"She talked a clerk at the records office into allowing her to sign the marriage license for the man she claimed was her husband. To get him to file it, she let him fondle her breasts. I tracked down the man who confirmed the transaction on the condition that he not be charged and that his wife not be told what he did."

Hilde had to swallow her disgust, both for Ellie and herself. How could she have believed that Duo was lying to her and using her when they were together five years ago? "So, what happened?"

"I went to a judge, told him the situation and he agreed to keep the sordid mess quiet and that I should just treat her divorce as I would any other. I never met the husband, but both Ellie Maxwell and Robert Cameron, the man funding my efforts on her behalf, assured me that he would be more than happy to agree to the divorce and that he would want custody of the child that was nothing more than a pawn for that woman anyway."

"All's well that ends well," murmured Hilde. She was ashamed of what she believed of Duo.

"For everyone," agreed Sam with a nod. "If that's all you need to know, I have a lot of work to catch up on and you've given me something else to do. Look for that permission form and sign it as soon as possible. I don't want to have to interrupt your wedding to force Andreas Becker to sign the pre-nup."

Hilde forced herself to laugh. "Don't worry, I will. I'll be in touch."

He saluted her, and the screen closed. She was setting down the tablet when she received a notification and she was surprised to see that it was the form granting him permission to investigate her finances so that they could be protected in a pre-nuptial agreement. Despite how miserable she felt over accusing Duo of something he didn't do, she laughed at Sam's eagerness. If he could extricate Ellie Maxwell from her legal mess, he was worth having on her side. She signed the form and sent it back to him immediately.

Then she covered her face with her hands, but that didn't stop the tears. How could she have trusted Duo so little?


	18. Chapter 17

**SEVENTEEN**

"Let me finish with this and I'll be right with you."

"Take your time, Jasper." Duo watched the man put the finishing touches on an elaborate angel-wing tattoo on the lower back of a woman who was bare to the waist. She had watched him enter the tattoo parlor and now she licked her red lips suggestively as she pushed her breasts forward to give him an unimpeded view.

"Stop moving, Bette!" The man working on the tattoo paused in his work to swat her backside that was nearly exposed because her black leather skirt was so short and tight.

Seeing a computer screen that flashed examples of the artist's work, Duo moved away to watch the slideshow as the tattooing started again. Some of the designs were complicated, but even the simplest ones had an artistic flare. When the humming of the tattoo gun finally stopped, Duo turned around to see the woman admiring the work through a set of mirrors.

"Thanks, Jasper. What do I owe you?" she asked as he applied a bandage to the area.

Jasper reached under her skirt. "You know what I want in return, Bette."

"Later. I have some work to do." After squeezing into a t-shirt that was little more than a second skin, Bette gave Jasper a sloppy kiss that left red lipstick around his mouth and then she sauntered to where Duo was standing. "If you have an extra twenty credits, I'll let you be the first to ride this angel."

Duo smiled. "No discount for an old friend, Bette?"

Pressing her body against his, she put her hands on his chest and stroked him slowly. "A girl has got to make money, Duo. You should take a turn on the street. I'm sure you could make a fortune with that pretty face and sweet ass." She slid her hands down and around to grasp his backside.

"Are you offering me a job?" Duo raised his hands so that she could see his wrists. "You know I can't do anything illegal or I'll be tossed back in the dungeon."

Her fingers had wandered into territory that was off-limits, so Duo stepped out of reach and she stuck out her bottom lip. "I was just getting interested."

"So was I, and I don't have an extra twenty credits."

Jasper had been cleaning up during their exchange, and now he came to them and slipped his arm around Bette's waist. "What do you want, Maxwell?" He nodded in the direction of Duo's wrists. "I can't do anything about that mess, and if I tried, I would end up getting a matching set. Though I can give you a nice tattoo that can draw attention away from it." Jasper shook his head. "The least those government hacks could do is make it look pretty."

Duo raised his wrist to look at the tattoo coding. "I don't think they care about aesthetics."

Stepping away, Jasper picked up a tablet and a pen, and after only a moment of sketching, he turned it around to show Duo the design of a scythe. "Do you like this?"

The other man's talented work tempted Duo, but when he didn't answer right away, Jasper flipped the tablet back around, worked on the design for a few seconds, then showed it to him again. He had added the name 'Ellie' so that the scythe went through it.

Duo laughed, and both Jasper and Bette joined him. They knew Ellie almost as well as Duo because they had grown up on the streets together.

"I thought you'd like that."

"I'd rather not have Ellie's name on my body for the rest of my life," Duo told him with a grimace.

"I could put it somewhere no one would see it, and it would get the treatment it deserves every time you took a squat," suggested Jasper.

"As fitting as that might be, I don't want your needles down there." Duo reached out to rub Ellie's name from the tablet screen. "Work on the scythe a little more and I might consider it."

Jasper set aside the tablet. "If you're not here to take advantage of my considerable talent and skill, what do you want?"

Bette rubbed her body against him. "He was looking for me."

Duo pushed her back. "Bette, I'm not interested today."

"Did Ellie give you such a good send-off that you're sore?" she asked with a sniff.

He ignored her. "I'm looking for some information."

Jasper went back to the stool he had been sitting on to work and nodded at the facing stool that Bette had vacated. After pushing aside Jasper's tools, Bette hopped up on the worktable to sit with her legs parted. Duo wasn't interested, but Jasper was distracted, so Duo grabbed the tablet and thrust it in his hands. "You can work on the design while we talk."

Bette put her spiked heel on Duo's thigh. "You're not fun, Duo Maxwell."

He pushed her heel off. "I'm not here to have fun."

"What do you want to know?" asked Jasper as he drew on the tablet.

"Your customers talk while you're working."

"So do mine," said Bette with a grin. "Most of it I can't understand."

Duo should have waited to talk to Jasper after Bette left. "There's a lot of money flowing in and out of the sector. I have some friends who want to know where the money is flowing to."

"Where do you think it's flowing?" asked Jasper without looking up. "And who are these friends of yours? I didn't think you had any after what they did to you five years ago. Have you paid them a visit? Maybe they can give you a few answers. Then again, that money was flowing in, not out."

As much as Duo wanted to get to the bottom of why people he had never had a cross word with suddenly turned on him to send him to prison, Heero wanted him to find out who was profiting from the illegal activities on the colony. Because the police turned a blind eye to the drugs, prostitution and gambling in the outer sectors, Heero suspected it was some one or some group in a position of authority. Duo wasn't so sure. Ellie hadn't had to do much to get a government employee to forge a document, so he doubted the men and women engaged in the myriad of illegal activities in the outer sectors had to do anything more than a little old-fashioned bribery.

But Jasper stopped sketching, and looking up to meet Duo's gaze, he said, "The answer to that question could get you in a world of hurt, Maxwell. If they find out that you're asking, you might wish you were back in the dungeon."

"I'm not afraid," Duo told him, frankly surprised that Heero was right, that there was somebody or something sinister controlling the outer sectors. "I fought in the war and survived five years in the dungeon."

Bette snorted. "You're not in a mobile suit, and you don't have prison guards protecting your ass. Out here we don't ask questions. We send a cut from our services where it needs to go. If we don't, we know that we'll disappear with no questions asked."

"How do you make payments?"

She slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of her tight skirt and withdrew a card. "There are credit readers throughout the sector. My customers load credits onto my card which automatically deposits seventy-five percent into another account."

"Seventy-five percent?" Duo was amazed. "That's even worse than the government's taxation."

Jasper grunted. "Between the two, it doesn't leave us much to live on."

"You have a legitimate business. Are you telling me that you have to send a cut to these people too?"

"Every transaction is monitored, and I've seen enough people disappear that I wouldn't dare cheat the system," Jasper told him.

"If you don't pay them regularly, you either end up in a morgue on the fast track to the incinerator or you're running for your life on the first transport off the colony," added Bette.

"There are some successful businesses in the sector," Duo pointed out. "How can that be possible if they are only allowed to keep a small part of their profits?"

Jasper shrugged. "Let's just say that sometimes they perform certain favors that benefit them. You might want to ask Fitz how he became the owner of the biggest club in the sector."

"You might say that Fitz owes it all to you," said Bette with a sly smile.

Fitz McElroy had testified at the travesty that was Duo's trial. Duo knew him from before he took up with the sweepers, and while he didn't consider him a friend in the true sense, there wasn't any bad blood between them. When Fitz gave his damning testimony at his trial, he had been shocked that the man had turned against him. He had spent a lot of time replaying every exchange he had ever had with him trying to pinpoint the moment he had alienated Fitz, but he couldn't come up with an answer. One of the terms of his parole was that he have no contact with anyone involved in his conviction, but it was looking like he would have to have a talk with Fitz. Before he did that, he would need to clear it with Heero because he wasn't going to break his parole no matter how much he wanted to know why Fitz took away five years of his life.

Jasper flipped the tablet around for Duo to see his design and he was impressed. "I like it."

Jasper snorted. "You don't have the credits to pay for it, and I don't do charity work even if I do like you, Maxwell."

"I like you too, Duo." Bette leaned forward, pushing her breasts nearly into his face as she rubbed his upper thigh. "I'll give you a discount. Fifteen credits."

He slipped off the chair to put some space between them. "I have a kid to feed. I can't be wasting credits on myself."

She licked her lips. "It wouldn't be a waste, Duo. I'd give you a fifty-credit job."

Jasper pulled her down onto his lap. "You're going to give me a fifty-credit job now."

Duo headed to the door where he paused to look back. Jasper and Bette were half-way towards starting their transaction. "Hang on to that design. I'll be back to get it done." When Jasper didn't give any indication that he had heard him because he had pushed up Bette's shirt and had his face buried between her ample breasts, Duo left the tattoo parlor.

Heading to the rail station so that he could report back to Heero, Duo had the feeling that he was being watched but he kept walking without turning around. There were plenty of people that knew him in the sector, although he didn't know how willing they would be to help him if he were attacked. But he knew of enough places from his days on the streets that he could escape to if he needed to hide.

At the rail station, as he stood with a handful of other people waiting for the train destined for Sector 6, Duo thought about Mia. Since Ellie left over a week ago, Mia spent nights with him and they shared breakfast before he took her to the hotel to play with Jamila while he worked. If Quatre and Dorothy needed to leave the hotel on business, their nanny watched the girls. Mia wanted to be with him in the evening because she thought he was sad that Ellie had left him, but she couldn't be further from the truth. Duo didn't let on how happy he was that he wouldn't be seeing Ellie for a long time if ever again. He told Mia that he didn't mind that she had a new friend and that she could spend as much time as she wanted with her because one day Jamila would leave the colony with her parents to return to her own home. Mia understood that Jamila would be there only temporarily, but by the time she left, Duo hoped to have Mia enrolled in a facility where she could be with other children.

Deep in thought about Mia's future, Duo didn't realize that a man wearing a long, dark trench coat with the collar pulled up had come to stand next to him until he spoke. "You're asking too many questions."

His voice was so low that Duo almost didn't hear him. Turning his head, he couldn't see the man's face, but he was wearing dark glasses. "How many is too many? I didn't realize there was a limit in this sector."

"If you know what's good for you, rat, you'll stay in Sector 4 or you'll end up in a trash compactor. We don't need you snooping around here."

"Last I heard we're free to travel anywhere on the colony," Duo said. "I grew up around here, so I consider it home. What sector are you from, Herman?" He had no way of knowing if the man was from one of the inner Teuton sectors, but his reaction to the derogatory name used for Teutons in the outer sectors told Duo that he was.

He balled his hand in a fist and swung it at Duo who ducked away, and when the man stumbled towards him swinging again, Duo easily evaded him. He had plenty of practice staying out of fights in prison, and this guy had nothing on the brutes in there.

The shrill sound of a whistle made the man freeze, and when he looked over Duo's shoulder, Duo followed his gaze to see two colony police officers running in their direction. When he turned back around, the man had hurried across the track just before the train pulled into the station. With a sigh, Duo raised his hands as the police came upon him. Seeing his tattoos, they didn't ask any questions, but jerked his hands behind his back where they restrained him with plastic handcuffs.

"Let's go, rat."

He wanted to ask what he was being arrested for, but Duo didn't want to give them any reason to claim he was resisting. One of them grabbed his arm to drag him away while the other remained behind to question some of the people who had been on the platform waiting for the train. Duo doubted they would have much to say, particularly because they didn't want to miss the train.

The officers transported him to the local precinct where he didn't even spend an hour before the commander received an order to send him to central processing in Sector 6 which was where he had been headed in the first place. If they gave him a chance, he would contact Heero who might be able to use his influence to get him released. Then again, nobody listened to his character reference six years ago. The authorities hadn't told him why he was under arrest or why his case was being expedited, and Duo got the feeling that he was being railroaded again. Did Jasper or Bette inform someone about the questions he had asked? How did that mysterious man in the dark trench coat know he was making inquiries unless one or both did?

When he arrived in central processing, he was directed to a small room where a man was waiting. The police officer that had escorted him shoved him onto a chair across the table from the man who was looking at something on a tablet.

"Whatever it is I am being charged with, I didn't do it," Duo told him.

The man looked up. "I am Weston Barrow, the prosecuting attorney. I can see by your finances that you can't afford your own attorney, so the public defender will send one to represent you. It's a waste of time. You and I both know how this is going to play out."

Duo didn't have any faith in the public defender even though he hadn't done anything wrong. The last time he had to rely on one after all his assets had been seized, he ended up in prison. "Can I make a call?" He needed to make provisions for Mia in case he couldn't get out of whatever they were charging him with.

"No."

Duo had no choice but to hope that Dorothy and Quatre would not allow child protection services to take Mia away. "What am I being charged with?"

"Disturbing the peace," the prosecuting attorney told him.

A buzz at the door preceded it opening and Duo knew his lawyer had arrived. Turning, his gut wrenched when he saw Hilde Schbeiker enter the room.

"Ms. Schbeiker!" The other man's gaze moved over her with appreciation for how her black suit fit her form perfectly. She had left her blouse open just enough to make a man wonder what was beneath the dark blue silk, and Weston Barrow was obviously doing some serious mental investigations. If Duo's hands weren't still restrained behind his back, he might have put a fist in his face which would ruin Hilde's effort on his behalf even before she began. "Doing some pro bono work again?"

Hilde glanced briefly at Duo, but he looked away before their eyes could meet. He didn't want her to see him cuffed and facing prosecution. It justified her opinion of him. "Mr. Barrow, it's nice to see you again."

"Don't waste your time on this Sector 13 rat. He was fighting on the train platform in Sector 10. A petty misdemeanor for anyone else, but a violation of parole for him. He'll be back in Penal Sector 100947 by the time we finish dinner. I know an out of the way place where we won't be disturbed by reporters."

She didn't react to his poorly executed invitation. "After you see this, I don't think you want to take this before a judge." Duo watched her do something on her tablet before handing it over to the prosecutor. "He'll tell you to do your homework and send a rebuke to the prosecutor's office for attempting to charge an innocent man. I have downloaded the security footage from the rail station."

Duo watched as the smug look on the prosecutor's face faded into a frown as he stared at the tablet. When he finished, he handed it back to Hilde. "You win. I'll withdraw the charges."

"You owe my client an apology for the inconvenience you caused him. He missed his shift at his job and has no income for the day. Child protection services tried to take his daughter, and if I hadn't been called to stop them, she might already be lost in the system. The prosecutor's office owes my client for lost wages, and his daughter has been traumatized by the people you sent to collect her even before her father saw the inside of a courtroom. You can expect a lawsuit on his behalf." Hilde leaned forward to give the other lawyer a fierce look. "You do remember that your boss, Andreas Becker, is my fiancé, don't you?"

Weston Barrow swallowed nervously.

"I don't think he'll appreciate the negative publicity. Votes in Sector 10 count as much as those in the other sectors, and there were plenty of people traveling between sectors who saw another man assault my client. Yet the police made no attempt to locate that man. They took one look at the tracking coding on my client's wrists and decided he was guilty. My fiancé's opponent will have a field day with this injustice, and your boss is going to look for someone to blame. You could have done your job and released my client before this travesty went as far as it did."

Barrow stood, and clutching his tablet to him, he hurried from the room.

"Release my client," Hilde ordered the police officer.

"Yes, ma'am." He hurried forward, cut the plastic cuffs and tossed them in the trash before leaving them alone.

As Duo rubbed his aching wrists, he reluctantly turned to face Hilde. She was tucking her tablet in a leather satchel. "Is it true? Did child protection services try to take Mia?"

Hilde fastened the satchel and turned to face him. "I'm sorry, but it is true. Dorothy Catalonia refused to surrender her, and her husband called me to represent your daughter. I talked a judge into issuing a temporary restraining order against child protection services on the condition that the Winners accept temporary custody."

"Thank you for looking out for her."

She arched a brow. "No thanks for looking out for you?"

"I know what you think of me ..."

Putting her hand over his where it rested on the table, she interrupted him. "Duo, I should have trusted you."

Duo had enough time to think about why she believed the worst of him, but it still hurt that she had. He drew his hand out from under hers. "You never trusted me, Hilde."

She stood to face him, and she parted her lips, probably to tell him that it wasn't true, but she couldn't lie. "I'm sorry, Duo."

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Duo was frustrated because he wanted to be angry at her, but he kept remembering how he felt when he saw that police officer slam a baton on her head. And as he watched over her when she was unconscious, he remembered how she had risked her life during the war to bring him the plans to the Libra. If he hadn't been there to save her with his gundam, she would have died in space. He blamed himself for that debacle just as he did for her going to Sector 10 to speak to him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked irritably.

"Saving your ass from prison," she told him with a frown.

"Won't your fiancé be angry that you helped me?"

"I didn't do anything that any other attorney could have done," she said with a shrug.

"And what you told that prosecutor, is it true? Are you going to sue Becker's office to reclaim my lost wages?"

"If you want me to, I will," she said with a raise of her chin.

Duo put up his hands. "I don't want any more contact with the prosecutor's office than necessary."

"I'll give you a ride back to Sector 3."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Duo remembered the last time they were in the back of a car together.

Hilde smiled, and he knew she was thinking the same thing. "I promise to stay on my side of the car. We have been invited to dinner, so it's convenient if we arrive together."

"We?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "When did you and I become we?"

"If it bothers you, then you and I have been invited to dinner at the Grand Embassy Hotel." She opened the door. "They're more your friends than mine. Heero Yuy expects me to bring you to him, so I'm not going to accept a refusal for sharing my car."

Even if he wanted to insist on taking the train, she opened the door and walked out, so he followed her. She was wearing a straight skirt of respectable length, and yet Duo's attention was drawn to her legs. Hilde was far more distracting than Bette, and he wasn't the only man that watched her because she was the best-looking attorney at central processing. She greeted a few men and women by name, but she didn't stop to talk to them, and after passing through the security checkpoint, she pulled out her phone to make a call as he went through the usual harassment because of the coding of his tattoo. The officers insisted on double-checking that he could leave the building, and even then, they told Hilde that she would be responsible for his behavior. He could see that she was annoyed by the hassle, but she merely gave her assent, signed a form and they were on their way.

As they walked down the dozens of steps from the government building to the street, a black town car slowed to a stop just as they reached the bottom. A uniformed driver hurried to open the door for Hilde who climbed in, and when Duo hesitated, Hilde snapped, "Get in or Hans will throw you in."

Duo glanced at her driver, saw that he was heavily muscled and decided to forgo the bruises. He had been manhandled enough that day. As he was settling on the soft leather seats, Hans closed the door, and when he was behind the wheel, Hilde ordered him to take them to the Grand Embassy Hotel before she pressed the button that made a partition slide up.

"I didn't think I would have a chance to talk to you without contacting Heero Yuy to set it up," said Hilde after a moment of silence between them.

"There isn't much we have to say to each other." He was looking out the tinted window. She had abandoned him six years ago, but despite the pain it caused him, his memories of their brief time together sustained him when he was in prison.

"I was notified that Robert Cameron dropped the charges against Ellie," she said. "And I confess, I snooped into your affairs. I discovered that you and Ellie agreed to a divorce."

Shaking his head, Duo didn't take his eyes off the scenery he wasn't watching. He could see Hilde's remorseful reflection in the window. "We were never married. But I didn't care if she wanted to give me a fake divorce. When Cameron has had enough of her bullshit, I'm sure she'll be back here claiming I'm still her husband."

"The divorce wasn't fake."

Now he turned his head to look at her. "How do you know?"

Color flooded her cheeks and she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I contacted her lawyer, and he told me the truth." She raised her gaze to look at him. "The lawyer Robert Cameron hired made sure the divorce was legal. He even went to a judge to explain the entire situation so that it could never be questioned. You are forever free of Ellie."

Duo looked away. It was too late. Too late for what? For her? Did he want this woman who thought the worst of him? She was too unyielding in her convictions. And yet he wanted to pick up his life where it had been left off six years ago. But it was useless to think like that because it could never be the same. He had a five-year-old daughter and she had agreed to marry another man. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't love Andreas Becker.

"And I'm sure you are right about my medication. I haven't taken it in over a week and I'm seeing things clearly now."

He turned in the seat to face her. "Now you are seeing things clearly? What is your excuse for not telling me who you really were six years ago? I didn't even realize the magnitude of your father's standing in the society of the inner sectors until he told me. Hell, I don't think I understand even now how rich and powerful he was."

"I didn't want you to see me differently," she said earnestly, leaning towards him.

"Why? Because I might realize that I wasn't good enough for you? Your father didn't have a problem with me, but I think you did and you still do. Does defending poor people ease your conscience?"

"You're not being fair to me," she argued. "Did you stop to think I might be ashamed of who I am?"

"Not really, Hilde, and if you do, you're a hypocrite. You have the luxury of feeling ashamed when the rest of us have to play the cards dealt to us. I don't know when or where my mother or father or both dropped me off at an orphanage. The only family I ever knew where the other losers ditched by their parents. You had a mother, a father and a home. You never had to dig through trash to find food to eat."

"You're right," she admitted. "Maybe I am a hypocrite. But that doesn't mean that I haven't suffered. You may not have had parents, but you had a family that cared about you, but I didn't."

Duo sighed with irritation. "Let's just agree that we don't understand each other. Sooner or later we would have realized that even if I hadn't been sent to prison. You would have gone back to your family and ended up exactly as you have."

She slid closer to him. "That isn't true! I loved you!"

He didn't want to hear that, not when she was so close that he felt her warm breath fanning his neck. It aroused him more than he wanted to be. "You said you would stay on your side of the car," he reminded her although he preferred that she stay. Duo wanted to take her in his arms, to experience the wild passion of her kisses and ease the sudden, uncomfortable need her nearness gave him.

"You're right," she said breathlessly, and she started to move away, but Duo prevented her from putting any space between them.

Snagging her wrist, he yanked her against him. "If you don't want this, Hilde, you better tell me now or I'm not going to stop."


	19. Chapter 18

**EIGHTEEN**

In answer to his question, Hilde closed the distance between them and slid her arms around his neck. By the look in his eyes, she knew he wanted her. There was no hiding his arousal as she stretched against him, and it matched the heat pooling in her core. But when she tried to kiss him, he grasped her shoulders to hold her back.

"I don't want this to be something you're going to regret."

"I would never regret this." How could she ever regret being with him?

He arched a brow. "Not even when you're getting cozy with your fiancé?"

Mentioning Andreas was like throwing cold water on her. "I don't want to talk about him."

"Why not? He's between us, Hilde. You're going to marry him, and yet here you are cheating on him before you even recite your vows."

She pushed away from Duo, angry, upset and more than a little frustrated that he would destroy the mood. Hilde hadn't seen Andreas since going to stay with Werner and Lina, and her only contact with him in almost a week was messages because he didn't have time to speak to her. Hilde didn't care if she ever saw him again, but that morning he sent her a message telling her to meet him for dinner at a restaurant in Sector 2. Of course, it was just a campaign stunt. He wanted people in his sector to see them together, so he was going to be upset that she cancelled his plans. She wasn't going to be at his beck and call anymore.

Hilde glared at Duo. "We haven't spoken any vows yet." And she was never going to speak vows to Andreas Becker.

"Semantics." Duo laughed bitterly. "You're a lawyer to the core, Hilde."

"It benefitted you nicely today, or maybe you would rather be waiting for dinner in prison?" She looked out the window where she could see by the numbers on the buildings that they had passed into Sector 3 and would soon arrive at the hotel.

After a moment of tense silence between them, Duo said, "I appreciate what you did for me, Hilde. Thank you."

"I would have done the same for anyone else," she told him without looking at him

The town car came to a stop, and Duo got out as soon as the automatic locks allowed him. Hilde waited for the driver to open the door and help her out of the car, then joined Duo waiting in the lobby of the hotel. She glanced at him with her brows raised, taking in his disheveled appearance. His clothing was wrinkled and stained, and his hair was sticking out of his braid in several places. The day spent in jails with his hands behind his back hadn't been kind to him.

When he didn't react to her subtle hint, she said, "The dinner is with Relena Darlian. I doubt she expects you to wear a tuxedo, but you could at least clean up."

He grumbled something that probably indicated that he agreed with her because he walked out of the hotel and crossed the street to the restaurant. Instead of entering by the front door, he went around to the back. Hilde considered heading up to Relena's suite and waiting for him, but she had a better idea. She sent a message to Relena telling her that they would be late, and then she crossed the street to the restaurant, but she entered by the front door.

The hostess came to greet her, and Hilde asked to speak to Madame Chantal. The other woman had been circulating among her dinner guests, but when the hostess approached her and leaned in to speak in her ear, she excused herself and headed towards Hilde.

Madame Chantal squeezed her hands and leaned in to kiss her cheeks. "My dear, I must thank you for getting Duo out of trouble."

"He wasn't in any trouble of his making," Hilde told her with a smile.

Madame Chantal sighed. "I'm afraid trouble follows that boy."

"I just dropped him off, but I realized after he had gone that I forgot to have him sign his release."

Madame Chantal had no way of knowing that Hilde lied. "He told me that he was going to get cleaned up because he has a dinner commitment at the hotel with his friends."

"I know that he missed most of his shift already. I hope his plans don't inconvenience you. There are some legal issues that need to be settled concerning Mia, especially after what happened today." That was true enough. Hilde had to use all her influence combined with the backing of the wealthiest couple in the Earth Sphere United Nation to keep Mia out of the child protection system. Duo needed a plan in place for his daughter in case something like that happened again.

The other woman waved her hand dismissively. "I am relieved that he is back, and that Mia is safe. Did you need him to sign the form immediately? It can't wait until you meet with him at the hotel?"

"I would like to file it before the central processing station closes its server for the day," she lied. Duo wouldn't have been allowed to leave if the proper steps hadn't been followed. "Would you mind if I went up to your apartment to get it done as soon as possible? It won't take long."

"Come this way." Madame Chantal led her through the restaurant to the back where she opened her office door. "The door on the left leads to my apartment. Tell him to enjoy the evening and not worry about missing work. And he can start late tomorrow."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that after all that he's been through today." Hilde crossed the room, conscious of the other woman's eyes following her. She should feel guilty about lying to Madame Chantal, but she didn't because the other woman had lied to her about Duo working in her restaurant.

The door opened to steps, and Hilde moved up them as quietly as she could so that Duo wouldn't hear her. If Madame Chantal was suspicious, she didn't say anything, and when she came to the top, she glanced back down to be sure the other woman hadn't followed her. She had already closed the door.

Hilde looked around the large, homey apartment. The layout of the main living area was open. There was a large overstuffed sofa and a couple of stuffed chairs in the living room that opened to a kitchen that had stools around a large island instead of a table. Near the kitchen she saw another set of stairs leading up, so Hilde guessed that Madame Chantal had a patio on the roof that wasn't noticeable from the street. Seeing a hallway to the left, Hilde headed in that direction because she was sure that was where she would find Duo's room. There were three doors, so she moved quietly down the hallway and paused in the middle to listen for any sound to indicate where Duo had gone. When she heard the running water of a shower, she knew where to find him.

His room was large, with a bed big enough for three, and by the pink pajamas that were balled up on the coverlet, Hilde guessed that Duo and Mia shared the room. She was sure of it when she saw a toy tea service that had seen better days on a nightstand on one side of the bed. Duo's love for a child that he hadn't asked for touched her heart. They hadn't gotten to the point in their relationship six years ago for her to wonder what it would be like to have children with him. They were still in the phase in which their attraction for each other made them drop whatever they were doing to have sex. Hilde had forgotten what that was like until she had been alone in the car with him. He may have rejected her, using Andreas as an excuse, but she knew he wanted her as much as she did him.

The shower stopped, so Hilde set aside her satchel, kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of the bed facing the bathroom door. She could hear him moving around, and when the handle to the door moved, her heart began to beat faster. She was taking a chance that he would be angry and reject her again, but she had to do it.

When he stepped into the room, he was wearing a towel low around his waist, but he didn't see her because he was rubbing his impossibly long hair with another towel. She had the luxury of looking at his body without him knowing and what she saw made her even more aroused than she already was. Aside from the tattoos on his wrists, he hadn't gotten any others like many convicts did. His muscles were toned, probably due to the forced athletic regimen forced on colony prisoners. Once a man or woman entered the penal system, he or she was automatically enlisted in the colony guard. Should war break out, prisoners would be sent to fight first, so as long as they were incarcerated, they trained. The strict military routine also cut down on most violent activities that usually took place in prisons elsewhere. Hannibal Grey spoke out against the practice, claiming that the Teuton community had devised it as a means of using the people of the outer sectors as shields since the overwhelming majority of the prison population was made up of men and women from those sectors.

Duo finished with his hair and tossed it over his shoulder to hang loose down his back. He took a step into the room but stopped when he noticed Hilde. "What are you doing here?" he croaked, his eyes wide with surprise.

Slipping off the bed, Hilde took off her blazer and tossed it aside, not caring that it landed on the floor. "Do you really need to ask?"

He looked past her to the closed door. "How did you get in here?"

"I told Madame Chantal that I needed you to sign your release form." She winked at him. "I lied."

"This isn't a good idea, Hilde."

She sauntered across the room towards him and for a moment, she thought he would back-pedal to the bathroom, but aside from visibly tensing, he didn't move. "Maybe I don't care what you think." She put her hands on his shoulders, his skin warm and moist from the shower, then brushed her fingers over the ridges of his chest muscles and ran them down to the towel tucked beneath his navel. He sucked in his breath as she dug her fingers just beneath the edge, but she only grasped it and pulled him towards her. She wanted to do more, but she didn't want to move too fast or he might end up balking again like he did in the car.

Putting his hands on her shoulders, he tried to move her back, but she resisted. "What about Andreas Becker?"

If he thought bringing up his name was going to stop her again, he was underestimating her determination and her need to ease the ache she felt for him. "I don't care what he thinks either." She moved backwards towards the bed tugging him with her. "Don't tell me that you care about hurting his feelings."

"Hell, no," Duo responded quickly. He didn't resist when she turned him around and shoved him on the bed where he propped himself up on his elbows to watch her.

Hilde stood at the bedside and looked down at him for a moment, admiring his lean body and especially the proof tenting his towel that he wanted her. She unbuttoned her blouse so that he could see the black lacy bra she was wearing, but she didn't remove it and her nipples puckered when she saw his gaze on her breasts. Reaching down to grasp the hem of her skirt, she slowly pulled it up to her waist so that she could slide off the matching panties.

"Do you always dress like that under your suit?" Duo asked, his voice husky.

She tossed the panties aside and crawled up on the bed. When she was straddling his thighs, she took the elastic band out of her hair and shook it out. Putting her hands on either side of his head, she leaned forward so that her long hair fell on either side of his face. "No. Sometimes I wear red."

He groaned and reached for her, but when he put his hands on her waist and was sliding them up, she pushed them away. "You had your chance in the car. It's my turn."

"Am I to assume that your pro bono work isn't really free?" he asked with a smile that made her insides burn even hotter.

"Only for you," she told him before she lowered her head to touch her lips to his. She wanted a wild kiss, and for a moment it was, but Duo took control and it became long and languorous. This was different from what they had experienced together before, but what he was doing with his lips and tongue, to her mouth, her neck and to her breasts through the lacy bra made her tremble.

She grasped his wet hair and pulled his head back so that she could look into his smoldering eyes. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Not where you think," he responded, knowing she imagined him kissing Ellie like that without her having to say it. "There isn't much to do in prison but fantasize, and I had a lot of fantasies about you."

Tears pricked Hilde's eyes. "You thought about me even though you must have believed I abandoned you?"

"You did abandon me, Hilde. But I don't want to talk about it now."

Neither did she, so she leaned forward again, brushing her breasts against his chest as she kissed his neck where she could feel his rapid pulse, and then she kissed a trail downward to the towel tucked low on his waist. If he hadn't been taking advantage of Ellie as his wife, and given his sanctimonious rebuke about her cheating on her fiancé, Hilde didn't think he had been with other women. He had gone a long time without sex, so if she did what she wanted to him, it would be over for him before she even got started. There would be time for that later. Instead, she pushed herself up and reached down to yank the towel to loosen it so that she could remove the barrier between them.

When she swung her leg over his hip and pushed herself down on him, he made such a pleasurable sound that she was afraid he wouldn't last long, but in the end, it was Hilde who lost control first, and when she collapsed shuddering with pleasure, he rolled her onto her back and made her cry out as he prolonged her climax before finally succumbing to his own.

Lying beside her, Duo held her against him and Hilde felt more than sexual satisfaction. She felt contented as Duo sifted his fingers through her long hair. She had never felt this with Andreas. With him it was an act that seemed more obligatory, and while he usually saw to her pleasure, he didn't remain with her long after they were both finished. He always left the bed, and she soon heard the shower running before he slept in his own room.

After a moment when his breathing returned to normal, Duo remarked, "You know, my daughter sleeps in this bed with me."

"We're not _in_ the bed," she pointed out. Her cheek was on his chest where she could listen to his slowing heartbeat.

"Semantics." He didn't speak for several moments and she thought he might have drifted off to sleep, but then he said, "Shouldn't we be heading over to the hotel?"

"I sent Relena a message telling her we would be late," Hilde murmured, and then she yawned.

Duo propped himself on an elbow so that he could look down at her. "You sneaky devil!"

She smiled up at him. "You're glad I did it."

He returned the smile. "I have an idea. Why don't you send her a message telling her we're not joining them at all?"

Hilde liked his idea. "What about your daughter? Don't you need to pick her up?"

"Just have Relena tell Dorothy about the change in plans. She'll keep Mia there."

Hilde reached over to dig her fingers in his hair. "I can do it later. After all, that didn't take long. There's plenty of time before we are officially late."

Duo raised his brows. "Are you complaining? Because there's plenty more where that came from." His fingers brushed over the lace of her bra and she shuddered from the tingle that raced through her.

"I'm not complaining." She stretched up to kiss him, and when she laid back against the bed, he followed her to continue kissing her. He raised his head after a moment to look into her eyes.

"I know this isn't going to last, Hilde. You and I are from worlds that are too far apart. But I want this time with you."

Hilde wanted to argue that it wasn't true and that she wanted more than this time with him. But he wasn't talking about love. He was talking about sex, and if that was all he wanted from her, a fun romp before they went back to their lives, then she could pretend that was all she wanted too.

The following morning when Hilde woke, she felt trapped at first until she remembered how she had spent the night and that trap was Duo's hard, warm body wrapped around her, holding her close. When she stretched her aching limbs – she had forgotten what a good workout sex was with him – he turned in his sleep away from her.

She reached for her phone which was balanced on the nightstand among the toy tea service. The previous evening, after sending Relena a message telling her that they wouldn't make it, Duo had taken the phone from her and turned it off. When it powered on, she saw that she had missed several calls, half of them from Andreas and one from Kurt, all probably concerning the photo-op they were expecting to have when she had dinner with him. Relena left a video message, so she played it.

"Sorry you were too busy to join us." She looked annoyed and Hilde cringed at the tone of her voice. "We'll be expecting you to have breakfast with us at eight. Don't be late."

She jumped when she felt Duo's hand on her waist, but at least she knew that he was awake. Checking the time, she saw that they only had half an hour to get ready. Duo didn't seem concerned about the time because he was sliding his hand across her ribs and her body reacted to his touch.

Reluctantly, she pushed his hand away and threw back the covers. "We need to take showers."

Duo swung out of the other side of the bed. "We only need to take one shower."

The shower took longer than necessary with excessive soap use as they washed each other until Duo pinned her against the shower wall and they took a break from washing. When they finally left the shower, Hilde saw that a tea service with pastries had been placed on the side table. She had been wondering how she was going to sneak out without Madame Chantal seeing her, but they must have made enough noise for her to realize that Duo wasn't alone. In addition to the tea service, there was a plain package addressed to Hilde in which she found a pair of jeans and a button shirt that was close to her size along with a hat, sunglasses and a blond wig. There wasn't any indication where it had come from, but Hilde guessed that Dorothy Catalonia had sent it. Although she was embarrassed, Hilde was glad that somebody was looking out for her. She hadn't wanted to enter the hotel wearing clothing that had ended up on the floor and lain in a heap all night but hadn't seen any way around it.

A brief search was necessary to find her bra and panties and when she had them on, she noticed Duo watching her and despite all they had done during the night and in the shower, heat rolled through her body.

"Do you think Relena would be angry if we skipped breakfast with her?" he asked as his gaze moved over her body.

"Maybe you should be asking yourself if you think Heero Yuy will be angry if you don't check in with him."

Duo frowned. "What do you know about that?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Is this official work for him, or are you doing him favors that can get you in trouble?"

He had pulled his dark pants up, but he hadn't zipped or buttoned them. Now she was the one who was distracted. "I'm not going to do anything that gets me in trouble."

She tore her gaze from his open pants and looked at his face. "Really? What were you doing in Sector 10 yesterday if not working for him?"

"Seeing old friends?" When she didn't respond, he threw up his hands. "All right! I was asking them questions for him."

"You need to be careful," she told him as she put on the jeans that Dorothy Catalonia had provided. They fit, although they were a bit too long and a little loose in the hips. "Let me know the next time you intend to go snooping around there."

Duo fastened his pants and put on a dark t-shirt. She paused in buttoning her shirt to admire how it clung to his muscled chest before he put a shirt on over it and she resumed buttoning her own. He sat on the edge of the bed to put on his socks and pull on boots, and Hilde was slipping on her own shoes when Duo came around to pull her backside up against him where she could feel that he was partially aroused.

"Let's not argue. You're looking as good in these jeans as you did in your lawyering costume."

She spun around, and he caught her against him. "Save that thought for later."

He kissed her, but when his hands grasped her backside and he pulled her tightly to him, she wriggled away and grabbed her phone before going to the small side table where she sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. As she sipped it, Duo brushed his hair and started braiding it. Since she knew that would take several minutes, she looked through her messages. Andreas wanted to meet her for lunch, but so did Lina, so she sent him a message explaining that she was having lunch with Lina Richter. To ease his disappointment, if he felt any at all, she informed him that they would be stopping by a bridal shop to get some ideas for her gown. There was a message from her mother complaining about an investigator prying into their finances, so she sent a message cancelling her lunch date with Lina, telling her that she was going to check on her mother. She had no intention of doing it, and she knew the women wouldn't compare notes since they seemed to despise each other. That would leave her free to be with Duo until he had to work.

Knowing why an investigator was disturbing her mother, Hilde made a video call to Sam Dietrich to find out why she was in a tizzy. She propped the phone against the teapot after pouring herself another cup.

"Hilde, I was hoping to hear from you." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Duo was looking in her direction as he continued to braid.

"Sam, have you been bothering my mother?"

He rubbed his head and then he grimaced. "There is a problem with your father's will."

Her brows rose, not because there was a problem, but because she didn't know anything about what happened after her father's death. That time in her life was completely blank, and it bothered her because she didn't know if she had some sort of breakdown or Dr. Koenig had altered her memories. That was something she needed to investigate, especially since Sam mentioning her father didn't give her the panic attack she usually suffered. "What kind of problem?"

"Please don't tell me you don't know anything about his will. Hilde, you're a lawyer!"

"I wasn't a lawyer when he died," she reminded him. But she was embarrassed anyway to be so ignorant.

"Your father was an incredibly wealthy man, much of it passed down through generations of tightly controlled finances. He added quite a bit of his own to the pot."

"I know that," she said impatiently. Her father was brilliant, both at his job and in the investments he made. In his personal life, he was a complete failure.

Sam rubbed his head again before speaking. "Hilde, did your father have any illegitimate children that you know of?"

The question shocked her. She couldn't imagine her father having an affair with another woman. Thinking of her mother, she certainly wouldn't blame him if he had. "Why do you ask?"

"His will is standard in that he left stipends to old family servants and made arrangements so that your mother could live comfortably for the rest of her life, but its the clause about you that has me concerned."

She didn't want to ask, but Sam seemed reluctant to tell her what the problem was. "Did he cut me out of his will?"

Duo came to stand by her and she was comforted when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Not exactly. He left you a generous inheritance, but he put the bulk of his estate in reserve for his heir which he did not specifically name. I can only conclude that he knew of an illegitimate child but either didn't want to name him or her or didn't know his or her name although he was aware of his or her existence."

Hilde couldn't wrap her head around the concept of her father, who had always seemed rather asexual to her, having a child with another woman. "I don't know what to tell you, Sam. I know I am his daughter, but we weren't close. He wouldn't have confided that sort of thing to me."

"Your mother wouldn't tell me anything about their personal life either," he commented, and Hilde knew why Ingrid had been annoyed by his visit. "Although she did invite me for dinner in a rather interesting way. I told her that my wife and children were expecting me." She was even more sure now why Sam had gotten on her bad side.

Putting her hand over her face, Hilde said, "I'm sorry, Sam."

He chuckled. "No need to apologize. She flattered me in such a way that I'm not telling my wife about it until we are old and gray and need something to laugh about. As for your pre-nup, I can only write in protections for the specific amount of money that your father left you. That may or may not leave the rest of his fortune unprotected in case you and Andreas divorce. He might try to claim that money."

"Do the best you can, Sam. I trust you." Duo took his hand from her shoulder when he mentioned Andreas. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't going to marry him, but she couldn't do it until after the election. Hilde didn't want Andreas Becker as her husband, but she had no reason to hinder his campaign. "I'll let you know if I discover anything."

When she ended the call, Duo remarked, "I'm guessing you don't think your father had a lover and a child, but it explains why he asked me about my life. Maybe his kid got lost in the system."

She looked up at him. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to talk about Andreas with my lawyer."

Duo shrugged. "It's not like I don't know you are marrying someone else. Let's not mention him at all. But when you marry him, this thing between us is over. It's bad enough that you're cheating on him after you agreed to marry him ..."

"He didn't give me a choice," she interrupted him. She had been annoyed when he put the ring on her finger, but now she was angry.

"You have had plenty of time to tell him 'no'."

Duo was right. Maybe the drugs were responsible for her inaction, and maybe it was because she wanted to do what would please Werner and Lina. Up until recently, Werner treated Andreas as he would a son.

He leaned down to kiss her. "Let's get some breakfast. I'm starving for some reason this morning."

She smiled up at him. "So am I."

After she tucked her hair under the blond wig and grabbed the hat and sunglasses, they left his bedroom together. When they entered the main living area, Hilde felt a twinge of embarrassment to see Madame Chantal sitting in the kitchen with a man that she knew was her chef, Rogelio.

He turned around to look at them, his gaze fixing on Duo. "Madame tells me that you will be working the afternoon shift. If you have a minute or two, I want to go over the soup recipe with you."

Duo looked at Madame Chantal. "Can you take Hilde to the back to wait for me."

She smiled at him indulgently. "Of course." Hilde noticed that she watched Duo leave with Rogelio with a fond smile on her lips until he had gone, and then the smile faded as she looked at Hilde. She expected her to say something about her disguise, but she didn't.

"I asked Rogelio to give us a moment to speak alone."

Hilde lowered her gaze and said, "I'm sorry I lied to you yesterday."

"As you should be. I am surprised at you, Ms. Schbeiker. You're not the kind of woman that would indulge in a fling with one of her clients." Before Hilde could think of a response, she continued. "Even if you are, Duo doesn't have casual encounters with women. I've tried to help him put Ellie behind him by suggesting women that he might like to spend time with who wouldn't be put off by him having a child, but he has ignored me. I'm guessing that the two of you were involved before his imprisonment."

Involved. Hilde hated hearing that dispassionate word describe their relationship. "We weren't 'involved'. I loved him. I thought our future would be with each other."

The older woman's gaze softened. "How do you feel about him now?"

Hilde wanted to tell her that she still loved Duo, but she was afraid to admit it. "If you are worried about Andreas Becker ..."

"Why would I worry about him? I don't want you breaking Duo's heart."

Hilde didn't want her own heart broken. "We are adults and we both know what we want. I'm sorry if that offends you."

Madame Chantal crossed the room and surprised Hilde by embracing her. "I know what you are feeling. I was young once and swept along the tide of what I believed was love. But you can never forget that you have obligations to your heritage, and I want to be sure you are not fooling yourself into thinking there can ever be anything more between you than there is now."

Feeling miserable because she knew the other woman was right, she met her gaze. "We are both very much aware of it." But deep in her heart, Hilde wanted to believe that she had a future with Duo.


	20. Chapter 19

**NINETEEN**

When he finished with Rogelio and went out the back door, Duo found Hilde waiting for him. She seemed more subdued than when he left her with Madame Chantal, so he supposed she was thinking about her father and the possibility that she had a sibling. He hoped that she wasn't regretting what they had done because he was in a happier place now than he had been in for a long time. If he could, he would take Mia, grab Hilde and carry them away to a place where no one could find them. Unfortunately, the only place that came to mind was the maze of service tunnels throughout the outer sectors that he and his childhood gang had lived in. That was not a place he wanted Mia to ever see and he doubted Hilde would agree to hide there with him.

Although he wanted to hold her hand as they walked to the hotel, he didn't reach for it. She was so deep in thought that he didn't want to disturb her. The woman Hilde had become was far different from the perky girl that had wormed her way into his heart. He hoped that girl wasn't gone forever, but if she was, he wanted to know and love the woman she had become.

What was he thinking? Duo mentally smacked himself on the side of the head. She was going to marry another man, a man from her world, the world he told her was too far from his own for anything more permanent to exist between them. And here he was thinking about loving her? Hell, he did love her, had never stopped. But they weren't destined to be together.

The only future he could depend on was one with Mia. Duo loved her and would do anything for her, but he wasn't happy with the life he had now. Learning the proper proportions for ingredients to soup might be a goal for somebody else, but Duo wanted to get back to what he had been doing before his friends had sold him out. Because of his conviction, he wouldn't be allowed to do any more salvaging, so that meant he had to find something else to do for the rest of his life. He was sure he didn't want it to be cooking or washing dishes. How would he ever be able to raise Mia on what he made doing that? The day would come when she would look at him and, in her eyes, he would see a loser. The work he did for Heero Yuy now wouldn't last long because he couldn't rely on him to find a way around the conditions of his parole to give him a permanent place among the Preventers. Convicts couldn't become peace officers.

Suddenly he felt Hilde touching his hand and his heart jumped as she laced their fingers. Looking down at her, he saw that she was smiling shyly up at him. "You don't mind, do you?"

They were about to cross the street, but he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless. He grinned at her. "I don't mind escorting a beautiful woman across the street."

After waiting for a car to pass, they continued to the hotel, and she didn't release his hand until they were standing outside Relena Darlian's suite and Duo had pressed the button to announce their arrival. As they waited, he looked at Hilde. "I think you can take off the sunglasses."

She pulled them off and tucked them in her pants pocket. Then she put her hands on his chest and slid them upward to clasp behind his neck. Duo didn't need any more of an invitation to kiss her, and they were still kissing when the door opened. He reluctantly released her and turned expecting to see Relena or Heero, but he was surprised to be facing Triton Bloom.

His brows shot up. "Does Heero Yuy know that you are here?"

Heero came to stand beside the other man. "What do you think?"

Triton grinned. "You thought I was with Relena last night?"

After hearing that he had been flirting with Hilde's mother, Duo wouldn't put anything past him.

"Get in here, Maxwell." Heero spun on his heel to walk further into the suite and Triton stepped aside to allow Duo and Hilde to enter before he closed the door.

Triton wasn't the only one invited to the breakfast. Sitting in the living room with Relena were Dorothy Catalonia and Quatre Winner. Duo looked around to see if the children had come with them, and not seeing them, he guessed that they were with the nanny.

"Hilde, is that you? I didn't recognize you."

Duo turned to see Triton with his hands on her shoulders leaning in to kiss her cheeks. He didn't realize that he was frowning until Heero spoke at his side. "He's not mauling her."

Duo gave a forced laugh in response and then looked away from the couple who were talking. To distract himself, he went to Dorothy and Quatre who were sitting together on the sofa across from the chair where Relena was drinking a mimosa. "Thank you for taking care of Mia last night."

"She is no trouble, but if you want to return the favor, you can watch Jamila some time," said Quatre who was looking at a tablet on which Duo could see a spreadsheet with a lot of numbers.

Dorothy smiled at him. "Don't worry, we will never call upon you to do that. We have a wonderful nanny, and besides, I doubt your apartment has enough room to accommodate the army of security that would accompany her. The girls were happy to spend the night together again." She looked past him to Hilde who was still talking to Triton. "She's a pretty blond. I'm not surprised Triton is flirting with her."

"You might need to rescue her," Quatre remarked without looking up.

Relena set aside her glass. "Stop teasing him. You know he's _my_ lover." She gave Duo a smirk that told him she had heard his exclamation at the door.

Heero leaned against her chair. "Now who is teasing?"

"Triton was our guest last night," spoke up Dorothy. "Mia and Jamila loved his balloon sculptures. Where did you learn to do that, Trowa?"

Triton moved away from Hilde to sit on the arm of the sofa near Quatre. "I have a lot of spare time." He plucked the tablet out of Quatre's hand and tossed it on the low table in front of the sofa. "How about I teach you how to do it?"

Quatre frowned at him. "I have a meeting in an hour with the executives of my subsidiary on this colony. I need to review financial statements again."

"Again? Don't you have subordinates that can do that for you?"

"Of course, he does," said Dorothy. "but he would rather do it himself."

Relena stood. "Let's eat. I'm starving, and if I don't get some food soon, the two mimosas I drank ..."

"Three," interjected Heero wryly.

She ignored him, "... will go to my head and I have a meeting in less than an hour. I don't think the candidates for colony governor will be amused if I slur my words and stumble around drunk."

"I would be amused," said Dorothy with a smile that made Relena laugh before she looked at Duo.

"The least you could do is show up on time when I arrange for you to meet with Heero."

Duo mumbled an apology as he took a seat at the table laden with enough food to feed dozens, and Heero sat across from him. He was expecting Hilde to sit beside him, but Dorothy took that seat and he was annoyed that Triton sat next to Hilde further down the table. For nearly a quarter hour, the main concern was dishing up food and eating as they made small talk, and when their appetites were satisfied, Relena excused herself to leave for her meeting. Throughout the meal, Dorothy had distracted him from Hilde by talking about what Mia and Jamila did the day before, but it was hardly enough to keep him from noticing how Hilde and Triton were deep in conversation with their heads together. What were they talking about? He remembered how Hilde had once seen Triton perform at the circus and teased him by pretending to be interested in him. Maybe she hadn't been teasing.

"What did you find out yesterday?" Heero asked him, drawing his attention from Hilde.

"Whatever it was, it pissed somebody off," commented Dorothy from his right.

"I discovered that I don't have as many friends as I thought," Duo grumbled. "I only spoke to two people and one or both of them must have tipped someone off that I was asking questions."

"If friends that you thought you could trust are so worried about the consequences of talking to you that they turn you in, the problem is as bad as I suspected." Heero looked troubled. "The election is in two weeks, so that leaves us little time to determine if either one or both of the candidates are involved."

"Whoever it is, they have their hands on every aspect of finances in the outer sectors." As Duo explained what Bette and Jasper had told him, Quatre lowered the tablet he had brought to the table to study as he ate.

When he finished, Quatre remarked, "That explains the numbers troubling me on the financial reports from my subsidiary. Nearly seventy-five percent of the profits from the mineral processing facility on this colony cannot be accounted for. I have twice replaced managers and yet I am still getting the same results. When I press for answers, if I get any, they are so inadequate that I have no choice but to fire the managerial staff although there is no evidence of embezzlement."

"The two people I spoke to told me that the consequences of withholding income are fatal," Duo told them. Bette and Jasper might not have businesses to the scale and respectability of the Winner Corporation, but what they did for a living was no less important to them.

Quatre frowned. "I'm not sure I want to keep doing business on this colony, not so much for my income since most of the profit made on this colony is shared among the employees. I don't want some criminal taking advantage of their hard work."

"If you pull out of Colony L2, a lot of people will be left without jobs," pointed out Dorothy. "Your mineral processing plant in Sector 8 employs nearly everyone in that sector and Sector 9."

Quatre sighed. "I visited those sectors yesterday. They are starting to look as poorly maintained as the outer sectors, and if the numbers I have been receiving are correct, my employees are hardly earning enough to live on."

"If enough people are unhappy, they will leave the colony," remarked Heero thoughtfully.

"Or stay and live wretched lives," Duo added.

Heero's gaze strayed to Hilde who was deep in conversation with Triton. "I know where we need to look for answers. Sectors 1 through 5 have not experienced any economic hardships since the colony was constructed."

"They are Teuton colonies," Duo said, now watching Hilde. What was she talking about with Triton?

Sensing that she had become the center of attention, Hilde looked away from Triton, and she seemed flustered to find everyone looking at her. "Did you say something to me?"

"We were talking about the Teuton sectors," Heero told her. "Teuton society is closed, so we have nothing to say. Perhaps you can enlighten us."

She glanced at Duo briefly before she looked back at Heero. Was she embarrassed to admit that she came from that privileged class? He was still bothered that she had hidden the truth from him, but Duo had to accept what he couldn't change. Hilde was a Teuton, part of a class that was so far above his own that he couldn't see her if he looked up.

"There's not much I can tell you."

"Because you are prevented by some code or you don't want to?" asked Heero.

Hilde sat up straighter, obviously offended. "There is no code that prevents me from talking about the inner sectors. Sector 1 is residential. The families that live there have done so since the colony became habitable. Sector 2 is made up primarily of financial institutions, and the second wave of colonists from Germany settled there. Sectors 3 through 5 are populated by professionals and later generation Teutons. There is nothing secretive about our society. The Teutons came from Earth together and prefer to live in the same sectors. They tend to be hard-working professionals."

"I assume they make up the majority of the highest paid professions on this colony," commented Heero.

"They have university educations," Hilde told him defensively.

"Because they can afford to attend a university."

"University education is free," she argued. Duo could see that she was both frustrated and angry.

"Free to those who have sponsors." Heero was giving her a challenging look. "How often are people from the non-Teuton community sponsored to attend the university in a Teuton sector?"

Hilde didn't have an answer for his question and she lowered her gaze. Duo thought he should say something to defend her. "There aren't many people in the outer sectors that want a university education. Those that do, find a way. I know some professionals that live and work in Sector 10. I think their parents worked in the households of Teuton families that sponsored their education."

Saying it aloud made Duo realize how beholden that made those people to the Teutons that had sponsored them. And despite their education and skills, those people hadn't bettered their lives since they could only live in the outer sectors and, if Quatre's problems were any indication, their income was severely restricted.

"We need to get to the bottom of this quickly," Heero said. "The kind of extortion that is rampant on this colony might incite violence. There have already been two riots since I've been here. Colony L2 is a powder keg, and when it explodes, it might take other colonies with it. The Earth Sphere United Nation will have to send the military."

"I'd rather that not happen," said Quatre. "I don't want my children to grow up to face constant war like I did."

Duo nodded. "I think we can all agree on that whether we have children or not."

"Is there something I can do to help?" asked Hilde although she sounded unsure of whether her help would be accepted.

"I don't think she should get involved," Duo blurted before Heero could suggest anything.

Hilde frowned at him. "I don't remember asking you to look out for me."

"Somebody has to," he argued. Damn! He probably shouldn't have said that because she was giving him a look that made parts of him shrivel. And when did she ever listen to him anyway?

Heero didn't give them a chance to argue any further. "I doubt there is anything you can do, Hilde, but I will contact you if I change my mind."

"What about me?" asked Duo. "My friend, Jasper, suggested I contact Fitz McElroy, a nightclub owner in Sector 10 to find out where he got the money to start his club."

Heero frowned. "Isn't that the same man that testified against you?"

"You can't have any contact with him!" Hilde exclaimed. "The minute you stepped into his nightclub, your tracking tattoo will send a message to the police and they will pick you up for violating parole."

Duo ignored her because he had the ring Heero had given him. "Don't worry, I'm not about to kick the shit out of him. I just want to ask him a few questions. Maybe he'll brag up his connections."

"Are you listening to me at all?" demanded Hilde, rising to stand. He could see that she was furious. "If you do this and get arrested, I can't help you out of it." When he didn't respond, she dropped back down on her chair scowling.

Instead, Duo looked at Dorothy and Quatre. "I have a huge favor to ask you. I wouldn't do it, but I don't know who else to turn to." He looked particularly at Dorothy. "You owe me."

"I don't owe you," Quatre reminded him with a sour look on his face. "I'm not doing favors for the guy that ..."

"What do you want?" asked Dorothy, cutting her husband off with an elbow to his ribs.

"If anything happens to me, I want you to adopt Mia."

He thought it might be asking too much of them, but Dorothy nodded without hesitation. "We are leaving for Earth tomorrow, and we were going to ask you if we might take her with us."

Before Duo could say that he didn't want to be without Mia for the weeks such a trip would entail, Heero spoke. "It was my idea."

Duo looked at him incredulously, and then he said, "That makes more sense. How could you understand what I would feel knowing that my daughter is so far away? It's hard enough to leave her with Dorothy and Quatre for the day! Now you want me to send her away for many weeks if not months?"

"You're being over dramatic," said Heero calmly. He glanced at Dorothy and Quatre before continuing. "You see Jamila as a carefree little girl whose clothing choices are questionable, but I saw her after she was traumatized when she was caught in a power struggle. Do you want that for Mia? What if your friends in Sector 10 decide that the easiest way to stop your investigation is to threaten your daughter?"

"He's right." Dorothy put her hand on Duo's shoulder. "Although they are less frequent, Jamila still has nightmares about the time she was kidnapped, and she saw the people who were supposed to love and protect her, use and abuse her."

Quatre looked past his wife to Duo. "I know how hard this will be for you. Every time I was separated from Jamila, I felt as if a part of me was missing, especially when I let Dorothy take her, when I was sure we couldn't work out our differences. You're going to wake up every day feeling as though the sunshine in your life is gone, but it will be worth it to know that she is safe."

Duo didn't know why, but he looked at Hilde. She wasn't part of their lives, and yet he trusted her opinion. "Do you think this is the right thing to do?"

"I can't answer that for you, Duo. And I don't fully understand the danger Heero Yuy believes her to be in, but I think you should trust him."

Her absence in his life would leave a gigantic hole in his heart, but it would only be temporary. Dorothy and Quatre would keep her safe. "You're leaving tomorrow?" It was so soon.

"We have some obligations for our charity foundation on Earth, and then we are going to Barbados for vacation."

"Again?" asked Heero with his brow raised.

The couple looked at each other lovingly and Duo was envious. He wanted what they had, was sure that he once shared it with Hilde. He dared not look at her now because he didn't want her to know how much he loved her when it would complicate her life. She had made her choice, and that was to spend her life with Andreas Becker.

"Is it settled?" asked Heero with what sounded like annoyance. Was he feeling the same sort of deficit in his life? "What must be done legally in order for Dorothy and Quatre to take Mia off the colony?"

"I can handle it," Hilde spoke up. "They already have temporary custody, but that will expire tomorrow since Duo wasn't charged and won't be going back to prison. I can draw up the necessary papers for Duo to temporarily sign away his parental rights to Mia."

Duo didn't like the sound of it, but he would like it even worse if any harm were to come to her because of the work he was doing for Heero. "Do you need to go to your office for that?" He had hoped to spend the day with her before he had to work at the restaurant.

"I only need my tablet which is back in your room, but I'll need to visit the government office to file the necessary documents in person and get Mia a passport to leave the colony."

"Are you going to need anything to grease the wheels?" asked Quatre with a sardonic smile. "This is rather late notice."

Hilde looked embarrassed as she answered. "They know me. They won't mind expediting the process."

Duo exchanged a look with Heero who slightly raised his brows.

"I should get started," she said with a sigh. "Will you come with me, Duo?"

He was about to say that he would, but Heero answered for him. "We have things to discuss."

"I'll be happy to escort you," said Triton smoothly as he stood and pulled out her chair for her.

"She only has to cross the street," Duo pointed out.

Triton smiled at him. "The street can be dangerous."

"Yeah, well it will be dangerous for you if you don't keep your balloons to yourself." He sounded like a jealous moron, which was ridiculous when Hilde wasn't his to claim, but he didn't want Triton to think she was up for grabs.

Hilde frowned at him. "If I want to see his balloons it's none of your business."

Without another word, they walked to the door together, and when they had gone, Heero remarked, "You're possessive over a woman engaged to another man."

"I know." He rubbed his face with his hands. "I can't help it."

"Let's step out on the balcony to share a cup of coffee." Heero headed to the sliding glass doors, and Duo reached for his cup and was pouring coffee, when Heero said, "Get out here. I didn't mean it literally."

He brought the coffee with him anyway because he needed something to stave off the exhaustion of having little sleep the night before. "Are you thinking that this colony is being screwed from the top?"

"Hilde might want to believe that her personal connections are what makes things flow smoothly for her, but I think it's more likely because of what she is. I'm not sure she can see her society from somebody else's eyes."

"She left to go to war," Duo pointed out.

"That was rebellion against her parents, particularly against her father, not against her people."

"I think you're wrong. She was angry that they didn't help us."

Heero shook his head. "That may be so, but fighting for an ideal is different than betraying your people. If she discovers that they are the problem on this colony, do you really think she will break with them? They have existed as a society for hundreds of years for a reason."

"I trust Hilde."

"Don't let your feelings for her cloud your judgement," warned Heero sternly, and then he sighed. "I hope, for your sake, that your trust in her is warranted."

"What do you suppose she was talking about with Trowa?" The moment he asked, he felt foolish because he knew he sounded jealous of the other man.

"I think that asking her would be the fastest way of finding out," Heero told him. "I wouldn't try pulling any of that alpha male crap by telling her that you know what's best for her."

"Is that how it works with Relena? No alpha male crap with her?"

Heero frowned. "It's different for us. I oversee her security."

Duo snorted and then asked, "When should I pay a visit to my old friend Fitz?"

"Give the authorities a few days to forget about your visit, and don't get into any trouble. I doubt I'd be any better at getting you out of it than the last time I tried."

"I still appreciated the effort. And don't worry, I know how to walk on eggshells. I've had plenty of practice this last year with Ellie."

Duo left Heero and returned to the restaurant where he paused to chat with a few of his friends in the washroom and kitchen who wanted to know what happened to him. They were outraged that he had been charged instead of the man that assaulted him. Duo suspected that the police knew exactly who had attacked him and wouldn't dare detain the muscleman of whoever was behind the extortion racket that was obviously widespread across the colony.

Heading up to the apartment, Duo found Hilde busy at her tablet while Triton shared tea with Madame Chantal. Although he would prefer to go to his bed to catch up on the sleep he had lost last night, he went to the island in the kitchen and slid onto a stool. He didn't care for tea, but he accepted the cup when Madame Chantal poured him one.

"I didn't know you were acquainted with the famous acrobat from the circus," Madame Chantal said to him. "I've seen his picture in the news reports, but I didn't think I would ever see him in person. Yet here he is sharing tea at my table!"

Duo forced a smile to his lips. "Yeah, he's a real delight."

Hilde made a sound that reminded him not to act like a jealous idiot.

"Ms. Schbeiker seems to be busy," commented Madame Chantal.

"You can call me Hilde," spoke up Hilde although she hadn't looked up from her tablet.

Duo looked from her to Madame Chantal. "She is preparing a document giving the Winners legal custody of Mia."

The teacup rattled in Madame Chantal's hand and she looked stricken. "You ... you are giving Mia away? After all you have gone through to keep her, you are just giving her to that rich couple to be a toy for their daughter?"

The other woman was so upset that Duo was taken aback, and then he said, "That's not it at all."

Triton reached out and put his hand over the older woman's where it lay shaking on the table. "They invited Mia to join them on their vacation on Earth. She will be returning to her father in a couple of months."

Madame Chantal drew her hand away. "Please excuse me." She moved away from the table and climbed the steps to the roof. Knowing what that meant, Duo followed her and when he reached her side, she was already drinking from a glass of amber liquid.

"It's a little early," he joked although she didn't look in the mood for his humor.

She downed the drink in one swallow, and then sat on one of the patio chairs. Sensing she wanted or needed to talk, Duo sat next to her. "I've gotten so used to having her in my life. She's my ... I've come to think of her as my granddaughter." Her eyes met Duo's. "And I think of you as my son, Duo."

The intensity of the emotion in her eyes touched Duo's heart. "If I had a mother, I would want her to be kind and understanding and generous like you have been to me this last year." Duo reached out to grasp her hands between his. They were shaking. "I don't want Mia to go with them, but I am working for the Preventers undercover, and if yesterday is any indication, what I am doing may become a lot more dangerous. I don't want Mia to be caught in the middle."

Madame Chantal clutched his hands. "I can't stop you from helping your friend, but please don't go back to Sector 10, Duo. Those people will take joy in killing you!"

"You know about them? Are they threatening you, too?"

She drew her hands away from him. "I do what I must to keep my restaurant open."

That would explain why, when she had a successful business, she hadn't purchased a home in the residential division of the sector. Her apartment was cozy, but living above a restaurant meant trying to ignore the aromas from the kitchen and the unpleasant odors from the workroom. "How long has this been going on?"

"About five years," she told him. "They waited only long enough for my restaurant to return a profit, and when it proved to be successful, they arrived one day, explained what was expected of me if I wanted to keep my business and my life, and they installed the software that drains most of my profits. If my expenses exceed what they consider acceptable, they send someone to remind me of what is at stake if I don't cooperate."

"The Earth Sphere United Nation wants to put a stop to it," Duo told her. "I want to help them. We all deserve to have a comfortable life on the colony, not just the select few fortunate enough to live in the innermost sectors born to the right families."

"You're talking about the Teutons," Madame Chantal said, concern in her eyes. "You can't challenge them, Duo. Anyone who does, doesn't live to tell about it, not even their own."

Duo frowned. "Do you think Hilde is in danger? Was she punished by her father for standing up to them and leaving to fight in the war they wanted nothing to do with."

"How was she punished?" asked Madame Chantal, her brows raised.

Duo didn't think he should talk about the details of her father's will, so he changed the subject. "You see why I want Mia as far away as possible. I don't want her involved in what I am doing. I can defend myself. Hell, I grew up on the street, fought in the war, and I'm still alive. If I have to worry about Mia's safety, I don't know how I can protect myself."

The older woman sighed deeply and then squeezed his hands. "You're doing the right thing for her."

"If anything happens to me, I know that she'll have opportunities that I probably would never be able to give her." Duo worried suddenly that Mia wouldn't want to return to their miserable life. His future might be brighter if his work for the Preventers enabled him to earn more, but he would never be able to afford the luxuries Jamila took for granted. One thing she would never lack was his love.

The following day, Duo and Mia were back at the spaceport in the departure lobby, but this time they were waiting for Mia to board the shuttle. He held her propped on his hip as Hilde spoke to the authorities who had questioned Mia's right to leave the colony. His daughter was holding on to him tightly, and he could feel her hot tears on his neck, but Duo couldn't give in to his own emotions. Dorothy and Quatre were waiting at the entrance to the shuttle that had been delayed because of Mia.

"I don't want to go, papa," Mia sobbed against him. She was getting Teddy and Miss Pinky wet as they were crushed between them.

Duo put his hand under her chin and raised her head so that he could look at her face. "You're going to have fun. You are going to Earth." He spun her to point out the planet they could see from the viewing window, but she didn't look.

"I want to stay with you!" Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She had cried on and off since he told her that she was going to leave the colony.

"The time will go by quickly, and then you will be coming back to me," he told her.

Hilde came to him along with Dorothy and Jamila. "She can board the shuttle now."

Her small fingers were grasping at Duo's shirt. "Don't make me go, papa!"

He was afraid that he was going to have to pry her fingers from him, but Jamila reached up to tug on her dress. "Let's go, Mia. We have our own room on my papa's spaceship. We'll have so much fun."

Mia had been hiding her face against Duo, but she looked down at her friend. "I don't want to leave my papa."

"I left my papa, too, but I saw him again."

Her grasp relaxed on Duo's shirt and he was able to put her on the ground and tuck Teddy and Miss Pinky in the crook of her arm. Jamila snatched her hand before Mia could seize him again. "Come with me."

But Mia resisted until Duo squatted before her. "Dorothy can help you call me and we can see each other every day. Give me a hug and a kiss."

He could see that she still didn't want to go, but with Jamila tugging on her hand and Duo all but dismissing her, she gave in and hugged him. He kissed both her cheeks, held her close so that he could have this memory of how she felt in his arms, and then released her. As she walked towards Quatre holding Jamila's hand and clutching Teddy and Miss Pinky against her, she was blurry in his vision.

Suddenly she snatched her hand back from Jamila and she ran back to Duo. "Papa!" He hadn't stood yet, so she came nearly face to face with him. "I want Teddy to stay with you to keep you safe."

Duo was stunned when she thrust her tattered teddy bear at him and he had to take it or it would fall on the ground. Not wanting to imagine her without the bear that she had kept close to her since he gave it to her many months ago, he tried to give it back to her, but she hurried back to Jamila without giving him a chance.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he had to blink away tears to focus as he stood up to face Dorothy. "I will call you at the restaurant every day when it is morning here," she told him. "We should arrive at the spaceport in Stockholm in about a week, and then we will spend a few days in Brussels before we go to Barbados. Heero Yuy has our itinerary as well as the means to communicate with us if you need to contact Mia. We will stay there until Heero sends us confirmation that she is no longer in any danger. We will bring her back to you then with a tan you will envy."

He couldn't even smile about her last remark. Glancing back at the shuttle, Duo saw that she had already boarded. "I know you will take good care of her, but I want to remind you that she is the most precious thing in my life."

"I know." Dorothy gave him a quick hug. "She will be safe. Take care of yourself, Duo Maxwell. I don't want to have to tell that little girl that she will never see her father again."

With that, she left him and boarded the shuttle, and Duo watched it leave the station to head towards the luxury transport with the words Winner Corporation emblazoned on the side. Several fighter craft piloted by Maganacs who would do anything to protect Quatre and his family which now included Mia. There was little likelihood that the transport would be attacked, but if were, Quatre had plenty of protection.

Hilde came to stand beside him, and he felt comforted when she laced her fingers with his as they watched the shuttle dock with the transport. "She will be fine."

Duo looked down at her. He wished he could hold her in his arms, but there were too many people who knew who she was. That she held his hand was surprising since she wasn't in disguise. She had come to the spaceport to act as Dorothy Catalonia's lawyer. That was the excuse he heard her giving someone who had called her that morning for why she wouldn't be able to have breakfast with him or her. He really hoped she hadn't been talking to Andreas Becker.

"I need to go," she said after the transport had disappeared. "I have put off a lot of things in the last few days."

Duo released her hand. "I understand."

She started to leave, but she turned around to look at him. "Please don't do anything foolish, Duo. You need to ask yourself if working for Heero Yuy is worth another five years of your life if you get caught violating your parole."

"Don't worry about me, Hilde. I won't get caught violating my parole."

"Semantics," she grumbled, and with a sigh, she walked away to where a car was waiting for her.

He would wait a few days before he headed back to Sector 10. For the rest of the morning, he intended to pay a visit to an acrobat that needed to answer a few questions.


	21. Chapter 20

**TWENTY**

By the time Hilde returned to her apartment, she was exhausted and only wanted to drop onto her bed to sleep all night. Everything she had done in the last two days was emotionally draining, from saving Duo from prison and spending the night with him, to arranging for the Winners to take his daughter and seeing the anguish it brought both Duo and Mia. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep not brought on by medication since before going to the rally in Sector 10.

After leaving Duo, she returned to the law office where she resigned. She had walked into an executive meeting and announced that she would no longer work for them. Hans Schulz accused her of leaving because they had refused her request to become a partner, and then he tried to cajole her into staying at their firm with the promise to reevaluate her performance in a few months. When Hilde didn't change her mind as he expected, he told her that she would have a difficult time getting a position in another law firm without his recommendation. Because she didn't intend to work for another firm, his threat was meaningless and only made him look petty. She went straight from her father's former law office to the public defender in the government building in Sector 5 to offer her services, paid or unpaid, she didn't care. Vince Conner took her up on it immediately. She agreed to begin working a couple of weeks after the election, and when Vince asked if Andreas would be bothered by her career change, she told him that it was her decision to make and that Andreas would have to accept it. Hilde knew that Andreas would not accept it, but she didn't care.

Swiping her keycard at her apartment, Hilde entered, and the lights turned on automatically. She slipped off her shoes and was heading towards her bedroom when she sensed that she was not alone. Detecting a movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to see Kurt Vogel standing in the kitchen, leaning against the refrigerator with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Kurt! You startled me."

"I'm sorry, my dear, we didn't mean to."

The voice had come from the living room and spinning in that direction, Hilde was surprised to see Werner instead of Andreas rising to his feet. "Werner? Did we make plans that I forgot about? How long have you been waiting?"

Although he had a stern look on his face, Werner crossed the room to give her a quick hug and a kiss to the forehead. "Not long, my dear. I learned through your driver when you would be returning."

Hilde wondered if her driver regularly reported to Werner and why. "Can I get you something to drink?" Without waiting for his response, she went to a serving cabinet and pulled out a bottle of brandy, but as she opened the cupboard to get glasses, she glanced at Kurt who hadn't said anything since she came in. "Would you like a drink, Kurt?"

"No thank-you, ma'am."

Laughing, she pulled out two glasses. "That's rather formal, Kurt. Where is Andreas that he doesn't need you at his side?"

Kurt glanced at Werner, and Hilde saw Werner nod which made Kurt leave the kitchen and head to the door without answering her question. When he had gone, she remarked, "Kurt works for you? I thought he was Andreas' campaign manager."

Werner sat on one of the stools at the counter. "I hired Kurt to oversee Andreas' campaign, and he keeps me informed. Andreas is at a fundraising dinner tonight where you are supposed to be."

Hilde filled a glass half-full and slid it across the counter towards him. "I haven't been checking my messages," she lied. Andreas had sent her a message that morning ordering her to attend the fundraiser in Sector 1, but she wasn't going to spend an evening pretending to be his happy fiancé, especially since he couldn't be bothered to speak to her.

"No, you were too busy working for Duo Maxwell."

The censure in his voice was hard to miss, and the question about her driver was answered. She wouldn't be surprised if he were sending detailed reports to Werner. Hilde couldn't be angry because Werner worried about her and wanted to keep her safe. "I was working for Dorothy Catalonia. She needed me to draw up the necessary legal documents so that she could take Duo Maxwell's daughter to Earth to keep her own company when they went on vacation." Most of that was true.

Werner took a sip of brandy, and for a moment he didn't say anything as he looked at her over the rim of his glass. Hilde knew what it must have felt like to be a witness subjected to his examination in court. "Your efforts kept Duo Maxwell out of prison again. How did you come to represent him?"

Hilde sipped from her own brandy for fortification. She could lie and say that she had been given the case from the public defender's office because she was already familiar with Duo's background through defending his ex-wife, hoping that Vince would back her up should Werner question him. But there was nothing wrong with the truth. "Dorothy Catalonia contacted me when child protection services arrived at the hotel to take his daughter. After I arranged for the Winners to take custody of Mia Maxwell, Quatre Winner asked me to help his friend."

"Is there another reason you helped Duo Maxwell?" When she didn't answer, Werner reached across the counter to grasp her hand. "Hilde, I don't want to see you hurt by that man. He used you in the past to keep colony police from looking into his business six years ago. If you hadn't been involved with him, they would have arrested him for smuggling long before they did."

Involved. She had been more than involved with him. "I am not involved with Duo Maxwell." Unless a night of satisfying sex with him could be considered involved, then she was very involved with him.

"Are you sure you weren't helping him and not Dorothy Catalonia?" asked Werner with a raised brow.

"I'm sure Duo Maxwell couldn't afford what she paid me." Hilde shrugged. "I guess she really wanted a playmate for her child at the beach. I don't know what she paid him to sign his rights away. A woman like that can easily offer money enough to persuade a man that works as a cook to give up his child." She took a drink, feeling guilty for giving Werner the impression that Duo would sell Mia or that Dorothy was a callous socialite that would buy a child to amuse her daughter.

For a moment, Werner did not speak, and then he finished the brandy in his glass and set it aside. "Lina asked me to visit you because you haven't been answering her messages and she wanted me to remind you of the appointment with the designer tomorrow."

Hilde would have to keep that appointment given the expense Lina had gone through to bring the designer to the colony from Earth. "Please tell her that I am sorry I missed her messages and that I will meet her at the salon. I will pick up my mother on the way."

A tick in his jaw told Hilde that he liked hearing about her mother as much as she liked mentioning her. "You look tired, my dear. I should be leaving so that you can get some rest." They walked to the door together, and when Hilde opened it, she saw that Kurt was waiting in the hall, leaning against the opposite wall with his arms folded over his chest. He looked strangely threatening which was an odd thought for Hilde to have about a campaign manager, if that is what he really was.

Werner put his hands on her shoulders and she looked up at him. "Have you been taking your medication, Hilde? I'm worried that you haven't and that is why I am seeing this erratic behavior."

Hilde wondered what he thought was erratic. If he learned of what she had really been doing in the last couple of weeks, he would have cause to worry. "I may have missed a few doses," she told him. Not technically a lie, but not technically the truth since she hadn't had a pill since the day she had gone to Sector 10. "But I've been feeling fine. I've been meaning to visit Dr. Koenig to ask him why I need to take the pills and if I can stop altogether."

He drew her into his arms and held her for a moment. As his warmth and the familiarity of his cologne enveloped her, Hilde imagined that this was how it felt to have a father that cared about her. She felt guilty for all the half-truths she had told him.

Werner rubbed her back as he pressed his lips to the top of her head and then he stepped away. "I'd like for you and Andreas to join us for dinner this weekend. Saturday night?"

She looked past him to Kurt. "Would there be any conflict?" she asked him.

Kurt shook his head. "If there is, I will clear his schedule so that he can attend."

Hilde hid her disappointment. She didn't really want to go anywhere with Andreas. "Then I will look forward to it."

After they left, she poured herself a full glass of brandy which she set on the nightstand beside her bed as she took a shower. As she did, she thought about her shower with Duo and wondered what he was doing. He might still be cooking at the restaurant, or he was showering like she was before going to bed alone. He would be sad that Mia was so far away, and Hilde had a wild plan to go back to the restaurant to be with him. But she knew that her driver would inform Werner who would probably sneak into her apartment to ambush her again when she returned. Even though Werner had no children of his own, he had certainly figured out how to be a meddling parent. When he was with her, she didn't mind, but now that he was gone, she was bothered by the excessive surveillance.

Once she was finished with the shower, Hilde slipped on a nightgown and got into bed where she sipped from the glass of brandy as she read through the news on her tablet. When there was no more brandy left, she felt more than a little woozy and didn't even realize when she fell asleep. The following morning when her alarm woke her, she knew by her raging headache and queasy stomach that she had passed out from drinking too much. Fortunately, there was enough time for the pain relievers to take effect as she got ready for her morning appointment with the wedding gown designer. She put on a blue silk dress that reminded her of Duo's eyes and found a pair of matching high heeled pumps. She pinned up her hair, and then looked at herself in a full-length mirror, liking how the silk clung to her. She imagined how Duo would react to seeing her in the dress, and closing her eyes, she fantasized that he came up behind her where she stood at the mirror. After sliding his hands down her body, he would slide them back up beneath her dress which he would peel off and toss aside before taking her down on the bed.

Sighing with disappointment because she didn't know how she would be able to get together with Duo again without her driver snitching, she left the bedroom and went to the kitchen, where she was surprised to smell coffee. She gave a startled gasp when she saw Andreas sitting at the kitchen counter where Werner had been the evening before.

"Andreas! I didn't hear you come in last night." Her heart was beating rapidly, and a guilty hot blush spread through her over the fantasy she had just been enjoying about Duo.

Andreas didn't look up from the tablet he was studying as he sipped from his coffee cup. "You were sound asleep. I couldn't wake you."

Because she was dead drunk and glad of it, because she didn't know how she would have kept him from her bed without him losing his temper. "I'm sorry I missed the fundraiser."

He smiled wryly as he flipped through whatever he was looking at on his tablet. "I told everyone you were sick and that earned me some sympathy. Without you there, I was able to flirt a little with the women. One or two gave me invitations to privately discuss how they might help my campaign."

"Should I be jealous?" she teased while wondering if one of those women might be able to take her place in his life. Maybe he would call off the wedding.

But Andreas suddenly snagged her wrist and pulled her onto his lap, and she realized too late that he was looking at her body with hunger. Before she could react, he caught her chin, turned her head and covered her lips with his own. He had dropped his tablet and set aside his coffee so that he could run his hands over the front of her dress, and she was disgusted that he was acting out the fantasy she had been having about Duo. As his hands slipped beneath her dress, she could feel that he was aroused, so she struggled out of his embrace and took a few steps back where she smoothed down her dress.

"I have to go, Andreas."

He stood and took a step towards her. "We haven't been together for a couple of weeks, Hilde. I have a few minutes before Kurt gets here. We should make the most of them."

She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, Andreas, but I don't have a few minutes. I'm running late as it is. I have to pick up my mother and meet Lina by ten o'clock."

He was scowling as he sat back down. "I wouldn't want to be responsible for keeping Lina waiting." His pale blue gaze moved over her body. "But I want to spend the evening with you. There's a club in Sector 3 I'd like to visit."

"Let's do it tomorrow night. I haven't spent any time with my mother lately, so I was planning to have dinner with her." She picked up her purse and headed to the door, but Andreas' voice stopped her.

"Does this have anything to do with how much time you have been spending with Duo Maxwell lately?"

She schooled her features not to show anything but surprise when she turned to look at him. "Are you implying that I have gone out of my way to see him? I didn't know I would have to represent his wife, or that Dorothy Catalonia would call me to help her keep his daughter from entering the child protection system." Hilde's outrage was not feigned. She was angry that Andreas was keeping tabs on her. While Werner did it to watch out for her, Andreas did it to control her. "I represented Dorothy Catalonia and her husband, not Duo Maxwell."

"How convenient for you," he said with a sneer as he left the stool and took a step towards her.

"I have to leave." She grabbed her purse and quickly left the apartment, the hair at the back of her neck rising because she was afraid that Andreas would follow her and drag her back inside. What could she do if he did? She wasn't a drugged, mindless fool anymore, but he was still much bigger than her and stronger. He could do to her whatever he pleased, and she had no way of stopping him.

She didn't feel safe until she was in the elevator on the way down and even then, she worried that he might take the stairs to cut her off. But he didn't and when she was in the car on the way to pick up her mother, she berated herself for believing the worst of Andreas, especially when she knew that he had every right to mistrust her. He admitted to flirting with women to get votes, but she had slept with another man. Hilde wished she could feel guiltier about it.

Arriving at the Schbeiker mansion, Hilde waited nearly a half hour in the car before Ingrid got in and settled on the other side of the back seat. She had given the driver a knowing smile that made Hilde shudder with disgust as she imagined why he had spent so much time inside waiting to accompany her to the car. Hilde thought she might have to fire the young man because he seemed to be working for everyone but her.

"Mother, we are going to be late. We were supposed to be at the salon a thirty minutes ago."

"Then you shouldn't have arrived late," sniffed Ingrid as she looked at herself in a compact mirror. "I don't remember saying I wanted to be part of this."

"You're my mother," Hilde reminded her. "You should have arranged this instead of leaving it for Lina Werner."

Ingrid snapped the compact shut and turned her head to look at her. "Lina wanted to do this, and nobody keeps Lina from what she wants."

"Maybe I would rather my own mother showed that she cared enough about me to help me plan my wedding."

"I would prefer we didn't speak, as usual." Ingrid looked out the window and huffed. "I can't believe you are dragging me to Sector 5."

Hilde didn't bring up that Ingrid was born and raised in Sector 5. That she had married into Sector 1 was nothing short of a miracle. Instead of trying to have a civil conversation with her, she wondered for the first time in her life how Ingrid had managed to get a man from one of the first families to marry her when those families made alliances among themselves. Her engagement to Andreas was acceptable by their standards because his family had been a first family whose fortunes had taken a nosedive a couple of generations back, forcing them to move to Sector 2 when they couldn't afford to pay a staff to maintain their home. The former Becker residence still stood empty as if waiting for them to return, but Andreas didn't make enough money to move to Sector 1. His marriage to her would enable him to return, and that would be a very good reason that she could expect his anger when she broke their engagement. But once he was elected, he could have his pick of Sector 1 women, all with fortunes equal to her own.

That brought her back to thinking about her father's marriage to Ingrid. What did he gain from marrying her? Certainly not a loving wife. Turning, she stared at her mother and tried to see her as a young woman, and she realized that there were no happy wedding pictures of her parents in their home. "Mother, why did you marry my father?"

Hilde was surprised that the look Ingrid gave her didn't flash freeze her on the spot. "That is none of your business."

"I'm your daughter. Of course, it is my business!" Hilde didn't know why she was pressing her. Maybe it was because of what she had learned about her father, that he may have had an affair with another woman that produced a child he cared more about than he did her.

Ingrid didn't look at her. "We were chosen for each other. Neither of us could refuse."

By her tone, she hadn't been happy by the choice. "In this age? Are you kidding?" Hilde was incredulous.

Her mother made a sound of disgust. "Don't sound so surprised. Do you think your engagement to Andreas Becker is a love match? He was chosen for you and groomed to make him acceptable."

"Chosen for me? By who?" Hilde didn't know how to feel about what her mother said, or if she could even believe her.

"How delightful! We have arrived." She turned to look at Hilde. "You have never asked me about my marriage to Otto Schbeiker, and I prefer that you never ask again. You can be sure that I have said all that I ever will to you on the subject."

The car stopped, and they waited in tense silence for the driver to open the door first for her mother who flirted with him as he helped her from the car. Hilde didn't bother to wait for him but climbed out on her own. He seemed bemused by her initiative, and she didn't look at him because she knew that he was informing both Andreas and Werner of her activities and probably having sex with her mother. If driving her own car wouldn't be such a hassle, she would do it because she doubted firing her driver would make any difference when the man who replaced him wouldn't be any less likely to do what irritated her about her present driver.

When they entered the salon, Lina was talking to a tall, elegantly dressed woman who hurried forward to greet them. "Welcome, Mrs. Schbeiker, Ms. Schbeiker! My name is Eda Mayer and I am honored that you have chosen my salon, Ms. Schbeiker, to provide your gown. I am sure that your wedding will be the event of the year!"

"I'm sure it will be," muttered her mother sardonically, and then she spoke up. "Now, if you please, I would like something to drink." She pushed past the Eda Mayer to move further into the salon where she greeted Lina with a curt nod. "Lina."

"Ingrid," responded Lina automatically without looking at her. "You will find refreshments in the room on the right." When Ingrid moved in that direction, Lina came to Hilde and hugged her. "You look lovely today, Hilde. There's color in your cheeks. I think you have recovered from your accident."

The color in her cheeks was more from embarrassment over her mother's behavior. "Yes. The headaches have gone." Hilde allowed Lina to steer her further into the salon, but she noticed that Eda had locked the door and changed her sign to indicate that she was closed. She was probably going to make a year's worth of profits on this gown.

"Come this way, ladies. Your designer has prepared a show from which I am certain you will find a gown for your special day." Eda led them to a room with a plush sofa and several matching chairs that faced a large screen. Lina sat on the sofa, and Hilde took the place beside her while Ingrid sat in a chair far from them, a glass of champagne in her hand. Hilde would guess that she had already downed one before joining them.

The designer, a middle-aged man wearing flamboyant clothing whose name she didn't catch and didn't really care about, stepped in, and Hilde barely listened to his explanation of how he had gone about the designs he was about to show her. He didn't normally do wedding gowns, but he was delighted with the opportunity – more likely the fortune he was promised – to do hers. She would choose a gown, buy it and stuff it away in the back of her closet never to be seen again.

Before he began the show, Eda's assistant served Hilde and Lina mimosas and pastries, but she handed off a glass of clear liquid to Ingrid and collected her empty champagne flute. As the lights dimmed to start the show, Lina leaned towards Hilde to remark, "Your driver may have to carry her out."

"She would enjoy that," Hilde muttered before turning her attention to the screen.

The designer projected his creations on the screen, modeled by a lifelike image of Hilde that seemed so real that she had the feeling she was seeing her wedding from the future. She watched herself walk down the aisle of the cathedral in Sector 1 wearing a wide variety of gowns and saw how she would look kissing Andreas after they repeated their vows. The show enabled her to know how she would look sitting beside him glowing with happiness at their reception and even waltzing with him in a ballroom. As Lina exclaimed over each design, Hilde felt sick to her stomach. The woman she was watching was the woman whose image the designer had captured from the many photos that had been taken when she was dating Andreas. Whoever had created her image had perfectly captured how malleable and mindless she had become under the effect of the drug Dr. Koenig insisted she take.

Hilde barely listened as Lina commented about the merits of each gown's sleeves or bodice or skirt and how they enhanced her beauty. She could only think about what Dr. Koenig had done to her and try to imagine why. The only conclusion she could come up with was that somebody wanted to be sure that she could be controlled, especially after she had run off to join the military. She glanced at her mother who was getting another glass of what was most likely a screwdriver without the orange juice, and she dismissed her as a possibility because Ingrid wanted Hilde around as little as possible. And then she looked back at Lina who was gazing at an image of Hilde wearing a flouncy chiffon sleeveless ballgown holding a cascading bouquet of red and white roses. There were tears in her eyes.

"That was the gown I wore when I married Werner," she murmured dreamily, and she looked at the designer. "How did you know?"

He smiled at her. "Your husband provided me with your wedding photograph and asked if I would include a design similar to your gown among my own."

Hilde glanced at her mother, wondering if she was bothered that Lina's gown was being offered as a choice for her wedding. "Mother, did you provide the designer with a photo of your gown?"

Ingrid waved her hand dismissively. "Otto and I did not have a wedding. We signed papers at the governmental offices in Sector 3." Her smile was brittle. "A foreshadowing of our sterile, unpleasant union."

"You have had too much to drink," observed Lina gently.

"I haven't had enough to drink to spend the morning with you," responded Ingrid, her voice dripping acid. "Have you finished, Hilde? Do as she wants and choose her gown. She won't be satisfied unless you do."

Hilde looked back at the gown frozen on the screen. While it wouldn't be the gown she would choose for herself, she was beautiful wearing it and had no reason to object. Looking at Lina, she saw that she had a hopeful gleam in her eyes that she couldn't refuse. "I love it," she told her with a smile. The disgusted sound her mother made told Hilde that she had made the right decision because it had irritated her. As Lina hugged Hilde and the designer exclaimed with delight over her choice, Hilde doubted she hated her mother more than she did that day.

"You will look so lovely with Werner escorting you down the aisle," said Lina as she caressed Hilde's cheek with the backs of her fingers. "We will both be so happy for you on that day."

Feeling guilty because Hilde had no intention of going through with the wedding, she smiled at the other woman. "I would be honored to have Werner escort me."

"Are we done?" asked Ingrid with annoyance. "Even if we aren't, I have had enough of this as I can take sober." She rose unsteadily to her feet with the help of Eda's assistant. "Hilde, call the car. I'm sure Lina would be more than happy to give you a ride."

"Yes, dear, I would love the chance to make plans for your wedding."

Hilde didn't want her wasting her time making any more plans for a wedding that wasn't going to take place. "I'm sorry, Lina, but I would like to see my mother home. There is something I want to discuss with her."

Lina squeezed her hands and kissed her cheeks. "If I don't see you before then, I am looking forward to having you and Andreas over for dinner on Saturday. Perhaps we can make some plans then. In the meantime, I will arrange for an appointment with the florist."

"Why bother, Lina?" asked Ingrid, her words slurred. "Just send them an itemized list from your own wedding so they will know what to prepare for my daughter's."

"Could you all give me a moment with my friend?" Lina asked of everyone in the room, and since nobody had missed the sarcasm in Ingrid's voice, they all left them alone, including Hilde although she did not go far because she was afraid of what Ingrid might do. She couldn't hear them, but she could see them, and she was surprised when Lina grasped Ingrid by the shoulders and shook her roughly. The two women exchanged heated words that Hilde wished she could hear before Ingrid twisted from Lina's grasp and stumbled away from her.

Before she reached the outer room of the salon, Hilde had moved away and was on her phone calling for the car. The driver informed her that he hadn't left the spot in front of the salon, and he was at the door to open it for Ingrid who he helped to the car while Hilde thanked Eda for her time and her patience. Then she hugged Lina, but she was bothered by what she had seen transpire between her and Ingrid. Her mother was a bitch, that was certain, but the woman Hilde had seen treating her so roughly was so far removed from the Lina Hilde had always known that she wondered what else she didn't know about her.

"Are you sure you want to go with her?" asked Lina with the kind and gentle tone that Hilde had only ever heard from her.

"I must," Hilde told her with an apologetic smile. "Let's get together for lunch tomorrow. I'll make reservations at Le Beau Papillon."

Lina's smile faltered just enough for Hilde to think she might suspect her of using their lunch date as an excuse to see Duo. Lina had never once mentioned Duo Maxwell, not even when Hilde had returned from the war and she had been living with him. To her, he did not exist. "I would like that very much, Hilde. I will meet you there at noon. Now I will make arrangements with the designer to have the gown made for you."

When she left her to go back inside, Hilde sighed and turned to head to the car. The next few hours with her mother were probably going to be the longest hours of her life.


	22. Chapter 21

**TWENTY-ONE**

Even if Hilde wanted to talk to her mother during the car ride to the Schbeiker mansion, Ingrid pointedly ignored her, had not even looked at her when she climbed into the car with her. The entire half-hour ride was an ordeal in which they sat together in tense silence until the car pulled up to the front of the mansion.

Her mother was flirting with the driver, but when Hilde got out, Ingrid turned her head and gave her one of her frosty glares. "What are you doing?"

"I am visiting you," she told her calmly. Getting into an argument on the front steps would ruin her plans.

"I don't recall inviting you."

A cold wind would blow in from hell before she sent that invitation. "I am inviting myself."

Without another word, Hilde headed to the front door which was immediately opened for her. Expecting to see Helmut, Hilde started in surprise at the lanky, shaggy-haired young man who stood before her and she realized that she hadn't stepped foot in the house since the night her father took his own life. Now she hesitated, and she started to reach for her purse for the medication she hadn't taken since the day of the rally in Sector 10. Reminding herself that she didn't need it, she stepped through the door and into the foyer. Without meaning to, she immediately looked to the left, to the dark hallway that led to her father's study. She pushed back against the surfacing memory of that night, of what she had seen when she entered his study for the first and last time.

"I would have appreciated a warning of your visit," said Ingrid from behind her, keeping Hilde from delving too deeply into her memories. "How long can I expect you to stay?"

"I thought we might have lunch together," Hilde told her, expecting her mother's annoyance and the scowl she was giving her.

"If it's absolutely necessary." Ingrid looked at the butler. "Cole, please inform the chef that I have a guest for lunch."

He grunted some response, and as he walked away, Ingrid watched him with a smile, particularly his backside, until he was gone. Tall and well-built, he was handsome with blond hair that spilled over his shoulders. Cole was far too young for the responsibility of running the household, but he was an attractive young man, so Hilde knew that he hadn't gotten the job on his expertise in management.

"Mother, I don't recall when Helmut left."

The smile faded from Ingrid's lips and she turned to head towards the salon, forcing Hilde to follow. "Of course not. Otto's death affected you more than I would have imagined. There wasn't any particular affection between the two of you, and because you had recently returned from war, I wouldn't have thought seeing the mess he made could have disturbed you."

Hilde was shocked by her insensitivity. "Mother! He was your husband!"

Snorting derisively, Ingrid crossed the salon to a table where there was an assortment of decanters filled with different liquors that had not been there when Hilde lived in the mansion. Helmut had always served them. "Otto was an awful husband." She poured herself a drink. "I was glad when that mockery of a marriage came to an end." She drained half the glass. "I think I respect him more because he had the courage to end it."

The other woman made Hilde sick with disgust, but she couldn't vent her feelings, or she would not get any answers from her. She went to the table and poured herself a glass of sparkling water even though spending time with her mother made her want something a lot stronger. When she returned to her place on one of the extremely uncomfortable chairs, she asked, "If your marriage was so awful, why didn't you end it? Or at the very least, find solace with someone else."

"Divorce is unheard of in this sector." Ingrid sat in the chair opposite Hilde. "Are you politely asking if we had affairs?"

"If you want me to state it bluntly, then yes." She met her mother's gaze. "You don't seem to have any scruples about doing it now. Did you and my father have your own diversions? Is that how your marriage survived as long as it did?"

Her mother laughed. "I am a widow who did her duty. Now I can do as I please. As for affairs when he was alive? That is completely unacceptable in our society. Everything, and I mean everything, is done in the traditional manner. We married, had a child, and were expected to live unhappily ever after." She leaned forward to look directly at Hilde. "Remember that, Hilde. When you pronounce vows to Andreas Becker, you will be expected to keep them. If you betray him, you betray us all. You will have to stop finding ways to see Duo Maxwell because nobody is naïve enough to believe it is by chance."

Her breath caught as she realized that her mother knew about her activities. "How do you know I have seen him? I didn't think you cared enough about me to keep abreast of what I have been doing."

"I don't, but Werner keeps me apprised whether I want him to or not. He seems to think I should care, or that I have any influence on you. As for me, I don't care if you are screwing Duo Maxwell, because that's all a man like him is good for, but I warn you that the consequences will be dire if you continue to do so after you have married Becker."

Angry about her dismissal of Duo, Hilde was prevented from responding when the butler, Cole, stepped into the room. "Someone is here to see you, Ingrid."

Hilde blew out her breath with relief. Another minute with her mother and she might say something she would regret.

Cole reluctantly moved aside, and Triton Bloom walked into the salon. He was wearing a dark t-shirt that molded to his muscular torso, and Hilde resisted the urge to roll her eyes, especially when she saw her mother all but drool as her gaze settled on the bulge in his tight leather pants. He couldn't be wearing anything under them because she was seeing more of him than she cared to.

He feigned surprise at seeing Hilde. "Hilde, I didn't realize you would be visiting your mother."

Her mother wasn't impressed by his acting. "I don't remember making plans with you, Mr. Bloom," she said, her brows drawing together suspiciously as she glanced between Triton and Hilde. What did she think? That Hilde had arranged for a tryst with him at her mother's home? Only Ingrid would think of something so sordid.

Triton turned his attention from Hilde to her. "I have the afternoon free, and since our last visit was cut short, I hoped you would enjoy my surprise."

Setting aside her glass, Ingrid crossed the room to him, and taking his hands, she leaned in to kiss his cheek, but Hilde saw her brush her body against him, particularly the part of him that had caught her attention. "We are about to have lunch." She looked past him to Cole who was waiting at the door scowling. "Inform the chef that we have another guest, unless I can persuade Hilde to leave."

That was obvious, even for Ingrid. "I intend to stay unless you are telling me to go," Hilde told her with a frown.

Ingrid opened her mouth to speak, but Triton said, "I'd love for Hilde to join us." As if she were the one interrupting their plans. She had asked him to do this, but she didn't think he would be such an ass.

Ingrid blew out her breath with annoyance. "I guess it's settled. Cole, inform the cook of our change in plans and let us know when lunch is ready."

Cole left the room after a jealous glance at Triton who ignored him as he walked Ingrid to the settee, and they sat together with him still holding her hands. "I am sorry for interrupting your mother-daughter afternoon. If you wish, I can leave after lunch." He looked at Hilde. "You must have a lot of wedding plans to make with your mother."

"They are being made for her, and thankfully I don't have to have anything to do with it," said Ingrid before Hilde could speak, drawing his attention back to her. "All she has to do is show up and repeat her vows."

"Wedding planning can be time consuming," commented Triton with a lamenting sigh, his gaze fully on Ingrid. "Professional planners are amazing if you can afford one."

"She doesn't have to pay her wedding planner. Lina Werner doesn't have a daughter of her own, so she has usurped mine."

"I didn't think you cared," muttered Hilde.

"I don't care except that it gives Lina pleasure and I'd rather not see that happen."

"I like a woman who doesn't feel restrained from saying what she thinks," remarked Triton before Hilde could give a blistering opinion of her own.

"A little restraint doesn't hurt," Hilde told him with annoyance. She wished he would tone down his performance. Her mother was stroking his thigh and the rat was obviously enjoying it.

Ingrid leaned closer to him. "I am very unrestrained."

The smoldering glance he gave her mother nauseated Hilde as much as his response. "I can think of a way to put that to the test."

"I might surprise you."

"I like surprises."

The butler stepped in to mutter, "The food is ready."

Hilde shot to her feet, disgusted by Triton and annoyed by Cole's unprofessional manner. Catching a glimpse of Triton touching her mother a little too much as he assisted her to her feet was enough to make her lose her appetite. She sat across from him at the table while her mother took the place at the head where her father used to sit, and throughout the meal, Ingrid leaned toward Triton as she flirted outrageously. Hilde considered kicking him as he encouraged her. She had asked him to distract her mother so she could look around the mansion for any evidence of an affair that her father had with another woman, but she didn't expect him to seduce her. Unless he was a superb actor, which he might be, she could see exactly how they would be spending the rest of the afternoon. Her mother wasn't a doddering old woman, could even be considered attractive for her age, but Hilde didn't like knowing that a friend of hers was going to entertain her intimately.

During the meal, she might as well have not been there for all the attention they gave her, so Hilde thought about where she would look. She had never been in any of her father's private spaces in the mansion which included his bedroom, his study, and the game room. She didn't want to look in the bedroom because it adjoined her mother's and she would rather not hear what might be going on in it, but it would be the best place to start her search.

After the dessert was served, Ingrid asked Triton if he would like to have a tour of the mansion which, of course, he did not refuse. Hilde told them she was going to have another slice of pie to which her mother remarked that she should not be eating too much, or she wouldn't fit into her wedding gown. Then she slipped her arm around Triton's and steered him quickly from the room. Hilde waited for what she thought would be a reasonable amount of time for them to go up the steps and make their first and only stop on the tour, Ingrid's room, and then she followed.

Her father's suite was not locked, and she looked around to see if anyone was in the hall before she ducked inside. She was closing the door carefully so that she wouldn't make any noise when she felt someone bump into her from behind. She would have cried out if a hand hadn't covered her mouth.

"Don't scream. It's me."

She twisted and was surprised to see Duo. When he removed his hand, she asked, "How did you get in here?"

He grinned at her. "I hitched a ride with Triton in the trunk of his car – there really isn't much room in a sportscar. And when he was at the door, I hopped out while he was distracting the butler and sneaked around the back, disabled the security system – your mother should really update it – and since you were busy having lunch, I made my way up here, popped the lock on the door and started snooping around."

She frowned. "And you knew about my plan with Triton how?"

"I asked him why you two were so cozy."

"You were jealous," she accused him. His behavior at Relena's breakfast the previous day had been proof enough, and she couldn't believe he had confronted Triton.

"Heero pointed out that I don't have the right to be jealous," he said defensively.

Hilde didn't know how to feel about his jealousy. Angry that he didn't trust her, true, but also pleased that he was possessive. "Let's look around in here before they get too busy next door. You look through the nightstands and I will look in the closet."

"It's been six years," Duo pointed out as he crossed the room to the enormous bed. "What do you think you'll find after all this time?"

Opening the double doors to the walk-in closet, Hilde was surprised to find his suits still lining the wall, his shoes neatly placed on shelves. Her mother didn't even care enough to get rid of his belongings, or she didn't want to have anything to do with the aftermath of his death. Helmut would have seen to cleaning out the room, but he was gone. Her mother hadn't answered her question about Helmut, so she guessed that he had left after receiving the generous stipend from her father's will. She was glad for him, not just because he was well past the age of retirement, but because she wouldn't want him to suffer her mother's presence. He had always been completely devoted to Otto Schbeiker, and while Hilde had never seen him speak or behave disrespectfully to Ingrid, he treated her like a parasite that he had to tolerate.

Sighing, she started going through the pockets of his suitcoats and pants, but she didn't find anything in the nearly two dozen suits. Annoyed that Duo hadn't joined her, she stepped back into the room to see that he was listening at the door adjoining the room with her mother's. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Making sure Triton is doing his part."

"If his behavior at lunch is any indication, you don't have to worry about that," she remarked sourly. "Did you look in the tables?"

He moved away from the door. "While waiting for you, I checked them and didn't find anything. No books, no papers, not even a power-drained tablet. I also looked through the dresser drawers and checked for any hidden compartments. If he was cheating on your mother, he wasn't keeping any evidence of it in the room that she has access to."

"My mother wouldn't have cared," Hilde told him. "Their marriage was arranged, for what benefit I have no idea, and not only did they have nothing to do with each other, according to her, they didn't have affairs because that kind of behavior is forbidden in their society."

" _Your_ society," Duo pointed out. His gaze moved over her dress and then back to her face. "You look beautiful."

Hilde felt herself blushing. "I dressed up because I went to a salon today to choose a wedding gown." She didn't add that she chose this particular dress based on what he would think if he saw her in it.

Duo put his hands on her waist and started moving forward, forcing her to step backwards. "Did you pick a wedding dress?"

"I had one picked for me." Her heart started to beat faster, and when the backs of her legs bumped against the edge of her father's bed, she gasped, with surprise or excitement or both. "What ... what are you doing?"

He gently pushed her back on the bed and gave her a smile that made her knees weak. "What do you think?"

"We can't do this here!"

Putting his hands on her knees, he slid them up beneath her dress until he found her panties which he dragged down to her ankles where he paused to admire her high heeled shoes.

"Aren't these things uncomfortable?" He was caressing her ankles and she was forgetting what they should be doing.

"You get used to them."

"I like them." He moved his hands up her calves, and when he reached her knees, he parted them before pushing her dress up and tugging her to the edge of the bed where he dropped to his knees between her legs. He smiled up at her, put his finger to his lips to warn her to be quiet, then dipped his head between her legs.

Staying quiet was a near impossibility when he seemed bent on doing everything he could to make her scream. She felt guilty about what he did to her on her father's bed, but it only seemed to enhance the pleasure when she finally collapsed quivering back against the coverlet. Hilde reached for Duo, wanting him to experience what she had, but he moved out of her reach after quickly pulling her panties back up.

He wagged his finger at her. "Shame on you, Hilde. We can't do that on your father's bed."

Feeling as though her bones had dissolved, she still managed to prop up to look at him. "I doubt he would approve of what you just did to me."

He shrugged. "I don't know about that. I think he might have indulged a time or two himself, although I doubt it was with your mother. She could freeze a man's balls off. I don't envy Triton one bit."

While not wanting to consider Otto Schbeiker being intimate with anyone, she could certainly agree with his assessment of her mother.

"Let's look in the game room he told me about," suggested Duo. "He gave me the impression that it was a place he enjoyed."

As she straightened the coverlet, Duo used the adjoining bathroom to wash, and then Hilde led him to the first floor to a different wing of the mansion where there was a conservatory with a view of the gardens. Across from it was the room that her father referred to as his game room. She knew that he had taken guests in the room to play billiards, but she had never been in there. Hilde hadn't been interested in his pursuits when he was alive, and she tried to feel guilty about it, but he had ignored her to the point of neglect. Usually the room was locked, and today was no exception, but Duo wasn't deterred by a lock. He plucked a hairpin from her hair, telling her that her hair was a mess anyway, and as he worked the lock for a moment, she pulled the remaining pins from her hair, combed through it with her fingers and by the time she finished, she heard a click and Duo turned the handle to open the door after tucking the hairpin into his own braid.

"Not many people use the old-style locks," he remarked as he opened the door and stepped aside so that she could enter first.

The lights flickered before they turned on completely, evidence that nobody had stepped into the room for a very long time. Once they were completely lit, Hilde had her first look at the dark paneled room. A pool table dominated the center, and on one side there was a bar with stools, while on the other there were several leather chairs. The stale smell of the room convinced her that it hadn't been opened since her father's death.

Duo moved around the room, stopping at the rack where the cue sticks were neatly arranged in a row. He took one from the rack and went to the table. "Do you want to play a game?" Leaning over, he pretended to line up a shot and Hilde admired how his body looked bent over the table before mentally shaking herself because she was ogling him like her mother had ogled the butler. He pretended to take a shot, then straightened and looked at her. "Maybe you have something else on your mind?"

"No!" she gasped. But now she couldn't think of anything but using the pool table for something other than a game of billiards.

Duo found the rack, put it on the table and filled it with the pool balls he took out from the table before sauntering towards her, the cue stick still in his hand. "I'll let you take the first shot."

"We don't have time to play pool," she told him before putting as much distance as she could between them. She needed to distract herself from Duo and the look he was giving her proved he was still aroused by what they had done in her father's bedroom. "Maybe we should look around for anything he might have left in here."

Looking away from him, she headed to the leather-covered chairs. There was an ashtray with a half-smoked cigar on the small table between them. Had her father smoked cigars? She had never seen him do so, and the thought that she didn't even know that about him suddenly upset her. When she ran off to join the military, she had claimed to be an orphan, and she was starting to believe that she really had been one.

"How about a drink?" Duo was standing behind the bar, a bottle of bourbon in his hand.

She made an exasperated sound. "Did you find anything?"

"Whiskey." He set two glasses on the countertop and put a splash of liquor in both before setting aside the bottle and crossing the room to hand her one. "You look a little tense, so I thought you could use it."

Maybe the alcohol would keep her from thinking about sex, so Hilde tossed back the contents of the glass and set it aside before picking up the cigar to show it to him. "My father smoked cigars."

"So?" Duo took the cigar from her, grabbed a gold lighter from the table where it had been set beside the ashtray, and after putting it in his mouth, he lit it. Hilde took the lighter from him, saw that it had her father's initials, then set it back on the table as Duo puffed on the cigar.

She waved away the smoke and tried to take the cigar from him, but he backed away and blew smoke at her instead. "Give me that!" she demanded with annoyance.

Removing the cigar from his mouth after a puff, he reached around her to stub it out in the ashtray before he suddenly slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her neck and she shuddered with pleasure. He smelled of cigar smoke and whiskey, and because their bodies were pressed together, she could feel exactly how aroused he was.

"You make me crazy, Hilde," he murmured in her ear.

He made her crazy too.

But he moved away and took up the pool cue again. "A short game won't hurt. You can break."

Hilde frowned. "I … I don't know how to play."

Duo's brows lifted. "You have this fine table in your home and you never learned?"

She wouldn't tell him that her father had never offered to teach her, and even if he had, she probably would have rebuffed him. "There's a grand piano in the conservatory, but I can't play that either."

"Conservatory? What the hell is that?"

She smiled wryly. "The room across the hall."

"Oh, the fancy room with windows for walls and plants all over it." He pushed the pool cue into her hands. "I'll teach you." He turned her around to face the table, and for a moment she imagined this was what her father might have done because Duo smelled of whiskey and cigar as he held her close while helping her get the proper grip on the stick.

But when he bent her over to help her line up the stick with a white ball, she felt his erection against her backside. "You just have to tap the cue ball with a bit of force and it will hit the others, scattering them on the table."

She did as he said and was delighted to see the neat triangle on the other side of the table break apart. "I did it!"

"Yes, you did." But his hands had moved under her dress again to pull down her panties before he unzipped his pants and bent her over the pool table.

As he gripped her hips, she tightened her hold on the pool cue as every thrust made her whimper with pleasure until he brought them both to a satisfying conclusion. She remained sprawled on the table as he rearranged their clothing and then pulled her back to her feet against him.

His lips caressed her neck again before he murmured in her ear, "Any time you want another lesson, I'll be happy to give you one, but it will cost you."

Hilde twisted in his arms and putting her own around his neck, she smiled up at him. "I think I am more than able to pay whatever you ask."

Duo lightly kissed her lips, and then his brows furrowed. "Sorry. I guess I should have asked if I should be doing something about ... eh ... you know. I've been thinking that I shouldn't have been so careless a couple of days ago."

For a moment she didn't know what he was talking about, and then when she figured it out, she grimaced. "Don't worry. I won't get pregnant."

Releasing her, he stepped away, "I suppose you would be taking precautions with _him_. _Your_ people don't have those kinds of accidents while _mine_ breed like rodents."

Instead of rebuking him for referring to her as part of some other race, she said, "No, we don't usually, but we're looking for evidence that my father did, remember?" She would rather steer away from her sex life with Andreas, and she was bothered that he had brought it up.

"There's nothing in here. I think your best bet of finding anything will be in his study."

He headed towards the door, and when she hesitated, he turned to look at her. "I ... I don't think I can," she told him. Hilde had told herself that she could go in there, but now she was frozen with anxiety. Maybe if she had her medication, she could do it, but she had thrown it all away.

Duo returned to her and folded her in a comforting embrace. "Is that where he did it?"

She buried her face in his chest and nodded.

He stroked her back comfortingly. "It's just a memory, Hilde, and like every awful memory from the war, you can push it back. I'll help you get through it." He put his hand under her chin and tipped her head back so he could see her face. "If you want, you can hop up on the pool table and …"

Hilde pushed away from him. "We don't have time for that again." In truth, she would rather be doing all sorts of sordid things with him on the pool table.

"Why not? Triton says that your mother is insatiable, and he likes a challenge, so I don't think we're going to get caught."

She swallowed her disgust. "I thought he might just flirt with her."

"Your mother isn't the kind of woman that stops with flirting," Duo told her which didn't make her feel any better. "He told me that he was expecting to go the extra mile with her, and he doesn't mind. You might be surprised to hear that he doesn't make a lot of money performing for the circus, so he appreciates the chance to augment his income with the little gifts she'll probably give him in exchange for a hot afternoon."

Hilde pushed past him to leave the room. She didn't know if he talked about her mother's behavior to take her mind off her reluctance to go into the study, but it worked. Instead of thinking about that horrible night, she was trying to keep images of what Triton and her mother were doing from her mind. He was little better than a prostitute, but she supposed if a gold-digging woman like Ellie could latch onto a wealthy patron using her body, then why couldn't he?

Cole was nowhere to be seen since he didn't seem to understand his duties as a butler. Helmut wouldn't have allowed anyone to snoop around her father's private areas of the house, and he certainly would have caught Duo long before he reached the master bedroom. The door to the study was locked, and Duo didn't have any trouble getting past it, but this time he went in first as she waited in the hall. Duo was right, she could push back her memories instead of letting them cripple her.

Duo stepped back out after a moment. "It doesn't look any different than when I was in there with him," he told her. "Your mother didn't want to get rid of his things?"

Hilde looked at him. "It's not her house. It's mine." Then she amended. "Rather, it will be if his 'heir' doesn't step forward to claim it. I suppose the family lawyer told her that she didn't have the right to make any changes."

"That's convenient for us." He reached down to clasp her hand. "Come inside. It's only a room."

A room that she had only ever seen splattered with blood, a room that had the power to give her nightmares.

But when she stepped inside, and he closed the door behind them, she knew that Duo was right. The blood and gore of her memories were gone, and she saw only the dark, cave-like room that her father used as his refuge as well as the place he chose to end his life. The shield with the family coat of arms painted on it dominated the room, and there was no sign of what had happened in there. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Hilde would think that his suicide had just been a very bad dream.

"I will check his desk," she said although what she really wanted to do was look at the items he had collected and kept in this room because seeing them might give her some insight into what he was like. He had shelves with objects on one side of the room and other shelves with real books on the other side. She imagined that, like the shield displayed prominently above one of the chairs, the books may be hundreds of years old after having passed down through many generations.

Duo had wandered away to examine the objects on the shelf. "Let me know if you need me to unlock anything."

Taking a breath, she forced herself to walk past the chair where she had last seen her father's lifeless body, and she moved around it to the desk against the far wall. As she stared down at the empty blotter on the immaculate desk, Hilde realized for the first time that if her father left a note before killing himself, she had never seen it. Or if she had, like much of that night, she had put it out of her mind thanks to Dr. Koenig. Now she had another reason to visit his office, and given how he had messed with her mind and made her afraid of shadows, she knew he wouldn't give her any answers. Maybe Duo could help her sneak into his office so that she could look at his files.

Glancing up, she saw that he was examining an object on one of the shelves and her eyes fell on the tattoos on his wrists. "You realize that your presence here is being monitored." She shuddered to think that Andreas would be informed that Duo was in her family home.

He set aside the object and he raised his hand to wriggle one of his fingers on which she saw a gold band. Hilde had noticed it when he was touching her during their heated moments on her father's bed, and at the pool table, but she didn't want to wreck the mood by asking him why he was still wearing a wedding band. "This handy device locks my signal to where I was when I put it on and prevents the colony scanners from tracking me. As far as anyone knows, I'm back at the restaurant."

Hilde scowled at him. "If you are caught, you'll go back to prison and you will take the friends in Sector 10 who gave it to you with you."

"I didn't make this and my friends in Sector 10 don't have the technical capabilities of doing it. Heero Yuy gave it to me."

She didn't know if Preventer technology would be any less illegal to the justice system on the colony. "He's going to get you tossed back in prison," she grumbled as she tried a drawer to the desk. It wasn't locked, but it also didn't have anything worth noting in it, just blank stationary and pens. She tried the other drawers and didn't find anything more promising. "There's nothing here."

"Take a look at these," said Duo, and she looked up to see him holding one of the items from the shelves. "He must have been collecting toys."

She moved across the room to join him and she saw that he was right. "Could they be my father's old toys?"

Duo shook his head. "They look newer, like they have never been played with."

Hilde laughed. "I can't imagine my father playing with toys." The toys on the shelf seemed to be generic and traditionally designed for a boy.

"Maybe they are toys that his son played with and they were keepsakes to him."

She picked up a toy rocket. "Girls can play with these, too."

"Yeah, but you don't see any dolls, do you?"

Hilde grabbed an action figure of a soldier. "What do you call this?"

"A man. Do you think your father wanted his daughter playing with male action figures?"

She set aside the toy. "I suppose not." Hilde had plenty of toys when she was growing up, toys geared towards girls like dolls and kitchen sets. They were kept at the Werner home where she had received them as gifts from them. Her mother didn't want toys scattered about the house and her father had been disinterested. Seeing that he probably kept the expensive toys that he had gotten for his bastard son angered her. If he was alive, she would confront him and tell him exactly what she thought of him.

"I don't mean to hurt your feelings, Hilde, but your father must have really cared about his son."

"His bastard," she spat, both angry and hurt that what Duo said was obvious.

Duo put his hands on her shoulders. "Hilde, I know that your father cared about you. He told me so."

She shrugged off his hands. "I would have preferred some evidence of it." Hilde noticed an old book on the shelf along with the toys, and picking it up, she read the title aloud. "Great Expectations by Charles Dickens."

Duo took the book from her hands, and he held it with reverence. "I liked this book. Sister Helen read it to us at the church that took us in. But my favorite was Oliver Twist." He set aside the book and went to the shelves across the room which were lined with books. "Do you think he has it?"

Hilde didn't know anything about the books, but she followed Duo to where he stood looking at her father's collection. "What are the books about?"

"Orphans," he told her without looking back. "Here it is!" He reached for a leather-bound book, and when he pulled it out, several papers slipped from between the covers.

"I think the pages are falling out. The book must be very old," she remarked as he stooped to retrieve them.

He looked at the papers, then handed them to her. "They aren't the pages to the book."

Hilde took the sheets of paper from him and saw that they appeared to be letters.

"It looks like your father was writing to his son, but he never sent the letters."

Flipping through the papers, she saw that they each began with, _To my beloved son_.

She raised her eyes to Duo's and she could see that he was feeling sympathy for her. "I guess you were right. He did have a son, but we're no closer to learning anything about him."

"There might be something to help you in the letters," he told her. "You can read them, and if there's anything more you want me to do for you, let me know. But I have to get back to the restaurant. My shift starts in an hour."

He started to leave, but Hilde put her hand on his arm. "I do need your help. I want to find out what Dr. Koenig was doing to me during our sessions."

"Is that your psychiatrist?" At her nod, he said, "Then I'll help you, because I want to know too. You want me to visit him with you?"

"I don't think it would be wise for us to be seen together," she told him reluctantly. "I was thinking we could pay a visit after hours."

Duo gave her a half-smile. "I don't know, Ms. Schbeiker, if the court would approve of you enlisting me for breaking and entering."

"Tonight," she told him. She needed a reason to stay away from Andreas anyway.

"Then I'll see you tonight, but I think you should change out of that dress or we're going to end up doing something on your shrink's couch." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and headed to the door. She noticed that he still had the book in his hand. The volume was probably worth a lot of money, and she should remind him to leave it behind, but she suspected that it gave him memories of times that he thought of as happy, so she wanted him to keep it.

When he had gone, she looked at the papers in her hand and noticed first that they were written on the same paper that was in her father's desk drawer. There was at least a couple dozen, and flipping through them, she saw that nearly all were dated on the same day of the year. Even if she didn't find out who he was addressing the letters to, maybe she could learn something about Otto Schbeiker.


	23. Chapter 22

**TWENTY-TWO**

"Did I see you talking to that gorgeous acrobat from the circus, Duo?"

Duo was on his way to the back door when he was stopped by Bridget, one of the waitresses. In the last couple of days since Mia left, she had been putting herself in his path, either because Madame Chantal instructed her to make herself visible to Duo or because she genuinely wanted to comfort him. Either way, he wasn't interested in her. How could he be when all his waking hours and his dreams were filled with Hilde now that Mia was gone?

With lustrous wavy dark auburn hair that looked natural, Bridget had expressive hazel eyes and a spattering of freckles across her nose. She was attractive, and he didn't mind talking to her, but he wasn't interested romantically despite Madame Chantal's belief that he should be. Madame Chantal meant well in trying to encourage a relationship between them because she was afraid that his heart was going to be broken by a woman he could never have. Unfortunately, that led to some very awkward encounters between him and Bridget.

"He's a friend of mine," Duo told her. Triton had taken Ingrid Schbeiker out to dine and had chosen Le Beau Papillon because Hilde had used him as a go between to get the time and location of their meeting that night to Duo. Duo wondered how galling it was for her to speak to Triton when she was disgusted by his behavior with her mother. As long as neither Triton nor her mother were being hurt, Duo didn't see anything wrong with them having some fun together. Then again, if Ingrid were his mother, he might feel differently.

"I'd ask you to introduce us, but it looked like all his attention was on the woman he was dining with." Bridget was teasing him, and it reminded him of Hilde doing the same thing when they had gone to the circus together several years ago and she saw Triton perform. With Hilde, he had become defensive and, he'd admit it now, jealous, but with Bridget, he wondered if he could set the two up to take the pressure off him.

"I doubt he'll be on the colony much longer," Duo commented aloud, more to himself than to her.

"That's too bad," she pouted, and he caught her looking at him to gauge his reaction to her interest in another man.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and because his hand came away sweaty and greasy, he had the perfect excuse to escape her. "I need to take a shower. The special was some fried fish food and the kitchen air was greasy."

"I'm glad I don't work in there," she said with a visible shudder.

An awkward silence ensued, and Duo was about to say good-bye and leave, but Bridget suddenly blurted, "Would you like to go out for a drink?"

Duo didn't have time for a drink because he had to meet Hilde, nor did he wish to give Bridget any false hope. "I have had a busy day, so I was just going to bed after my shower."

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see that Madame Chantal had come up behind them and that she had put her other hand on Bridget's shoulder. You need to get out more, Duo and going out for a drink sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll let the nightclub know to expect the two of you."

"I can go home, change, and meet you in half an hour!" exclaimed Bridget, excited now that she was sure Duo couldn't refuse.

And he couldn't without upsetting Madame Chantal. "I'll meet you then," he told her reluctantly.

Duo watched her leave with a spring in her step, and when she stopped to talk to a group of waitresses near the door, they all turned their heads to look in his direction, so he knew they were talking about him.

"You should get ready," Madame Chantal said as she ushered him towards her office. "She'll probably run all the way back to her apartment and will be back here before you have even turned the water on."

They went through her office and climbed the steps to the apartment. Once they reached the top, Duo faced her. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful for all that you have done for me, but I would prefer that you didn't meddle in my personal life. I'm sure you don't approve of what's going on between me and Hilde, but it's only temporary and I'm not giving it up until I absolutely have to."

She put her hand on his cheek. "I don't want to see you hurt again."

"If you're talking about Ellie ..." He had been more disgusted than hurt by her.

"I'm talking about Hilde Schbeiker. When she abandoned you to prison, I know you must have felt deeply betrayed."

Duo blew out his breath. "I suppose I was at first, but now that I know why ..."

"She can't be yours, especially not now, Duo. She's engaged to another man. How can you forget that when you are here alone, she is with him?"

He didn't like knowing that Hilde might be sleeping with Andreas Becker, but there was nothing he could do about it. Duo would take what he could get and try to put Becker out of his mind.

"I need to shower because I suddenly have a date when I had other plans."

"You will enjoy yourself," she told his back as he headed to his room. "Bridget is a nice girl."

So is Hilde, he thought before entering his room and closing the door before he had to hear more of Madame Chantal's recommendations for the young woman she had picked out for him.

After showering and changing into a dark button shirt and black pants, he headed out for the nightclub, but Madame Chantal ambushed him in her office with a tie. When he told her it was unnecessary, she scolded him by claiming it would be disrespectful to Bridget if he showed up looking like a cat burglar. Duo nearly laughed at her description because he knew that he and Hilde would be doing the next best thing later in the evening.

Although he had entered from the back instead of the front door which was crowded with people waiting for a table, the nightclub hostess didn't look surprised to see him. After giving Duo a welcoming smile as well as a speculative look that made him feel ill at ease, she told him that Bridget was already waiting for him and led him to a table that was in a shadowy part of the club where most of the light was provided by the lit candle in the centerpiece. When he came to the table, Bridget rose and leaned in to kiss his cheek, enveloping him with her flowery scent. She had put up her thick hair and wore a modestly short black, strapless dress and heels that were considerably shorter than the ones Hilde had been wearing that day. Thinking about Hilde's shoes led to memories of what they had done that afternoon, but he cut them off because the least he could do for Bridget was to give her his attention.

The waiter came to their table, and since he knew them, he didn't bother with the usual pleasantries. He gave Duo a dark look before settling his gaze on Bridget. "I didn't know you were dating."

Bridget smiled at Duo and ignored the waiter, so Duo said, "We're just having a drink after work, Liam."

"You're mighty dressed up for just having a drink," remarked Liam, his attention still on Bridget.

"I'd like a glass of chardonnay," Bridget told Liam without looking at him, and Duo got the impression by their abrasive attitude towards each other that they had some history.

"How about you, Maxwell?" asked Liam, reluctantly looking away from Bridget.

"I'll take some bourbon," he told him. He doubted the nightclub had liquor as smooth as what Otto Schbeiker had stocked his home with, but he wanted a strong drink to get through this ordeal.

"Can you afford it?" scoffed Liam. "Or is Madame Chantal paying for your date?"

Even if he gulped the drink and ran to the train station, Duo would still be late for his rendezvous with Hilde, so he didn't offer to discuss the matter in the alley with the belligerent waiter. "I can afford it, but if I don't get better service, you're not getting a tip."

"I don't need a tip from you." Liam spun on his heel and walked away.

Bridget leaned towards Duo. "I'm sorry. I would have suggested another place because I knew he worked here, but I didn't want Madame Chantal to think that her club isn't good enough. I broke things off with Liam a couple of months ago. He asked me to marry him, but I couldn't agree because he was jealously possessive when we were dating, and I was worried that he would be so much worse if we were married."

"I don't want to get between you two," he said aloud and realized that he should have kept that remark to himself because Bridget frowned darkly at him.

"There is nothing between Liam and me," she snapped, and then she seemed startled by her forceful response. She reached out to lay her hand over his. "I'm sorry. I just wanted you to know that what was between us is truly over."

"Here's your drinks." Liam had returned, and he set down the glass of wine first, carelessly spilling some because his eyes had fixed on her hand touching Duo's. Duo wanted to jerk his hand away, but he didn't like Liam's malevolent stare and thought Bridget was justified in not marrying him.

Liam set down Duo's drink so forcibly that patrons at a nearby table looked in their direction. "Do you want anything else, Maxwell?"

He took too long in answering or Liam didn't care because he turned on his heel and walked stiffly away. Duo hadn't wanted to go out for this drink in the first place, and now he felt as if he were caught in a drama between Bridget and Liam. A glance at the clock told him that Hilde had been waiting for almost thirty minutes, and Duo couldn't realistically see himself getting away from the club for another half hour unless he was extraordinarily rude to Bridget. He should contact Hilde to tell her he couldn't make it, but he dared not call her phone lest Becker find out and he didn't know how to reach her otherwise. He would just hope that she either waited for him without trying to get inside her doctor's office or that she would assume that something held him up and went back to her apartment.

"I'd like an appetizer," spoke up Bridget. "Would you please bring us a combination platter?"

An appetizer implied a meal, and his first instinct was to remind her that he had agreed to a drink, but he asked, "You didn't eat at the restaurant this evening?" He hadn't had a chance to grab much to eat either, but he had intended to make it up for breakfast the following morning.

"No. It was a busy night," she told him with an apologetic smile.

He forced a smile to his lips. "Then we can order something more than an appetizer." Duo didn't know how he was going to explain his absence without mentioning that he was with another woman.

Bridget flashed him a bright smile. "I'd like that!"

Duo caught the attention of another waitress to order the appetizer, and fortunately, Liam did not return to their table to serve it, having been replaced by that waitress who told them that he left with the excuse that he was not feeling well. Bridget didn't seem to be bothered by his sudden exit as she ordered a salad, an entree and a dessert. Duo ordered soup and an entree when Bridget suggested they share the dessert.

After the waitress left, they picked at the appetizer platter without speaking for several minutes, and when the worst of Bridget's hunger had abated, she asked, "Are you terribly missing your little girl? I enjoyed watching over her when you had to work, and I was sad when my services were no longer needed."

"She's only been gone two days," he told her. But he still missed her terribly, even at night when she would sometimes wake him by kicking him in her sleep. "I've been able to speak to her in the morning." The first day was the worst when Mia started crying when Duo told her he had to leave. That morning, while she was reluctant to end their call, Jamila had coaxed her away and he was glad to have something to take his mind off her.

"Mia adores you," commented Bridget with a sigh, and the look she was giving him made him feel uncomfortable. "I know why. You are a sweet and gentle man."

If she knew the things he had done during the war, she might not be saying so. Duo couldn't even begin to count how many people had been killed every time he climbed into his gundam.

Not wanting to endure any more awkward silence between them, Duo asked about her family. She seemed relieved to have something to talk about and proceeded to tell him about herself. Bridget had been born and raised in Sector 9 where many Irish descended immigrants had settled when they came to work on the colony. Her grandparents and her parents had been laborers helping to build the colony, and once it was completed, there was nothing but menial work for their children. Four of her seven siblings had gone back to Earth to find better living conditions, but Bridget liked living on the colony and didn't mind that she wasn't rich and never would be. At least they had that in common. Duo was impressed by the Schbeiker mansion, but he couldn't see himself living in such a place. He would be satisfied with a small house in a decent neighborhood with a backyard where Mia could play. He had once naively believed that Hilde could be satisfied by such a place.

The waitress returned to refill their glasses and Duo didn't even realize that he had finished his drink as he was listening to Bridget talk. She did have a pleasant lilt to her voice that became a little more pronounced as she drank more wine, and he hoped she didn't drink too much because he didn't want to have to carry her home.

Fortunately, the waitress arrived with the first course of their meal, and she had just set it on the table for them when a commotion at the door drew all their attention. There were photographers and reporters, so Duo knew someone important was arriving, but he was unprepared for the shock of seeing Andreas Becker move past the crowd at the door that was being herded back outside the club.

"Isn't that Andreas Becker?" asked Bridget, her eyes wide with awe as she stared at the tall, golden-haired man. "And is that his fiancée? She is beautiful!"

That was an understatement. Hilde was wearing a form-fitting sleeveless pale, yellow dress with black stilettos that had every man turning his head to look at her. The scooped front of her dress showed cleavage and when she turned to say something to her fiancé, Duo saw that there was no back to the dress and that it dipped down so low he wondered how she kept it on.

"I heard she is very rich," Bridget commented, and Duo took his eyes from Hilde.

"Her father was one of the wealthiest men on the colony." He hadn't known that during his brief conversation with the man several years ago or he might have been more intimidated by him.

Bridget released a long sigh. "Women like that always get the best men."

Duo didn't respond because his gaze had strayed to the other couple, and as he watched Becker put his hand on the bare small of her back, he felt an overpowering urge to charge across the room and break his pretty face.

"How is the soup?" Bridget asked, changing the subject.

Duo reluctantly took his gaze from the other couple after seeing Hilde smile up at her fiancé when he seated her at a table across the club from them. The soup looked and smelled good, and since he had made it himself just before the end of his shift, he knew it tasted good too, but he didn't have much of an appetite. What was Hilde doing there when they had arranged to meet near Dr. Koenig's office? If he had gone to meet her on time, would he be the one waiting all night for her as she wined and dined with the man she was going to marry? He had to remind himself repeatedly that this was bound to happen, that he would see them together, but that didn't stop him from being as infuriatingly jealous as Liam had been before he gracefully bowed out to let them dine in peace.

Bridget laughed after a moment when he didn't speak. "Are you not eating the soup because you made it?"

Although he didn't feel like laughing, he did anyway. "Not at all. I guess the arrival of Andreas Becker made me lose my appetite. He was the prosecuting attorney that talked the judge into giving me a longer jail sentence than usual, and I'm still a little bitter about it." In truth, that was a minor reason to be bothered by seeing him at the nightclub in comparison to knowing that he was going to marry the woman that Duo loved.

"I'm sorry. Should we leave?" suggested Bridget. "We can get our meal to go and eat at my place."

Duo would rather keep an eye on Hilde even though watching her with Andreas Becker would be painful. "I'll be fine. I need to get used to seeing him here. After all, I work at a place where people like him dine all the time." He drained half his glass of bourbon and then started eating the soup. The liquor was making him feel less bothered by seeing them together. No one had ever accused him of being a mean drunk. Heero had once commented that he became a crybaby when he had too much to drink, so he usually avoided situations where copious amounts of alcohol were being consumed.

The waitress arrived with their entrees, and as she was serving them, Duo noticed that both Hilde and Becker had been served the soup, and while he wondered what Hilde would think of his cooking, he hoped Becker choked on the crab bisque. Before the waitress at his table left, Duo ordered another drink which made Bridget raise her eyebrows in surprise. Her own wineglass was still three-quarters full and she must be thinking that he was a heavy drinker. Usually, he wasn't, but he doubted he would be able to get through the meal without being sedated with alcohol.

Bridget tried to hold his attention by talking about a wide variety of topics, but Duo's gaze kept straying to the table where Hilde had not once taken her attention away from her fiancé. During their meal, several women had stopped to speak to Andreas Becker, and after a few words, they would walk away only to turn back to look at him with disappointment. Duo would have felt better if only Becker would have flirted with just one of those women, but he had eyes only for Hilde.

When a small musical group began to play, Bridget suggested that they dance like other couples were doing in the area designed for that purpose, and he was about to refuse with the excuse that he was an awful dancer. But Andreas stood and held out his hand to Hilde and when she stood with him, his decision was made. He pushed himself to his feet and offered his hand to Bridget who smiled at him as she took it. Duo didn't have to be a good dancer to sway to the music with Bridget, and she didn't seem to mind his simple style. Although she had draped herself against his body, he didn't care because it gave him the opportunity to watch Hilde dancing with Andreas Becker over her head. They were on the other side of the large dance floor, swaying together to the music, but in the way a man and woman who had dance lessons did. Becker held one of her hands in his while his other was on her back as she rested her hand on his shoulder. They danced close, their bodies touching from time to time, and from the look Becker was giving Hilde, Duo knew what they were going to be doing later.

The thought of them sharing a bed made him feel nauseous after having been with her that afternoon. The song ended, and Duo walked back to the table where he settled Bridget before excusing himself to the restroom. Bridget was distracted by the arrival of their dessert, and she promised to save some of the cherries jubilee for him, but Duo told her to eat her fill, that he couldn't eat another bite.

He went into the restroom, used the facilities since he had at least three glasses of bourbon with another waiting for him at the table, and when he was done, he washed his hands and then splashed his face with water because it was starting to feel a bit numb. When he left the restroom, he nearly ran into someone and he was surprised to find Hilde standing in the dimly lit hallway.

Duo didn't know what to say now that she was within arm's length. She looked even better close up than she did far away, but the dark look she was giving him precluded any comment about how beautiful she was. And he felt foolish after spending most of the evening simmering with jealousy as he watched her date with her fiancé unfold.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed furiously.

His brows furrowed. "I could ask the same of you. Weren't we supposed to meet a block from Dr. Koenig's office?"

"Then why aren't' you there?" she demanded, and he was taken aback by her attack when he thought he had a reasonable excuse for missing their rendezvous.

"Again, same question for you."

Hilde's expression was hard and accusatory. "I didn't have a chance to leave my mother's home before Andreas showed up and demanded that I accompany him. I couldn't refuse to go out with him."

"Why? Was he holding a gun to your head?" Duo knew he wasn't being fair to her, but he couldn't stand seeing her with the other man in her life.

"Is that why you are here with a woman?" she demanded. "Did she hold a gun to your head?"

Now his brows shot up. Was she jealous of Bridget? "Bridget asked me out for a drink, and Madame Chantal was insistent that I go with her."

"You're on a date!"

"You're engaged to marry your date!" he shot back.

Hilde stepped back from him. "This isn't working. We can't see each other."

"Why? Because I'm not sitting at home waiting to hear from you while you go out with Becker? Are you going to sleep with him?"

"That's none of your business," she snapped at him.

"Then you won't mind if I sleep with Bridget?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

She looked as if she would say something, but she turned on her extremely high heels and marched away from him. Duo watched her, furious at himself for letting her think he was going to go home with Bridget, and furious at her for confronting him while reminding him that he didn't have the right to question what she did with Andreas Becker.

Duo returned to the table to see that Bridget had finished dessert, so he drained his glass which was nearly full, then offered her his hand. "Let's get out of here."

Bridget seemed surprised, but she took his hand. "Would you like to come to my place?"

Knowing by the look she was giving him, Duo knew she was offering more than a brief visit to end the evening, and after his argument with Hilde, he considered accepting. He reminded himself that he had accepted his role in Hilde's life, which meant that he was at her beck and call, no better than Triton Bloom with her mother, so he needed to get over jealousy where Andreas Becker was concerned. But what did Hilde mean that they couldn't be together? Was she ending their relationship already? His thoughts were getting jumbled and he wished he hadn't finished that last drink.

"I need to get up early for Mia's call," Duo told Bridget.

"Will you walk me home?" she asked. "I'm a little nervous knowing that Liam left work early."

Given Liam's behavior when he was serving them, she had good reason to fear him, so Duo agreed. As they crossed the club to head for the door, he tried not to look at the table where Hilde sat close to Becker, but his willpower where she was concerned was non-existent. He was holding her hand on the table while she drank from a glass of hard liquor although there was an empty wine glass on the table near her already. He was drunk enough to want to stop at her table and say something stupid, but not too drunk to stop himself. Just before he looked away, she gave him a scathing glare that encompassed Bridget who was holding his hand.

He must have stumbled because Bridget tugged on his hand, and Duo turned away from Hilde and her fiancé to continue to the door. He stopped only to tell the hostess that he would take care of his bill in the morning, and she gave him a knowing smile after a glance at Bridget. Duo didn't correct her assumption that they were going to continue their evening elsewhere because he wasn't sure what was going to happen once he got to her place. He didn't want to be with any woman but Hilde, but maybe he should get on with his life now that she made it clear that they couldn't be together.

When they got outside, Bridget curled her arm around his and moved closer to him. "I really appreciate you doing this for me, Duo."

"Sure," he mumbled. His movements were sluggish, and he realized belatedly that he shouldn't have drank so much. But, damn it, how was he supposed to cope with seeing Hilde with that bastard? "I'm not sure how much I can help you if he shows up."

"He won't approach me if you're with me," she told him.

They walked for several minutes in silence, rather he stumbled, and she supported him as the effects of the last glass of bourbon he had drained in a gulp kicked in. By the time they reached her apartment building, everything was spinning around him.

"I had a good time with you tonight," Bridget told him as they came to a stop. She put her arms around him and tipped her head back to look up at him. "I'm sorry that Liam and Andreas Becker had to make it so unpleasant for you."

Duo wasn't capable of rational thought, so he had no response, nor could he react immediately when she threw herself at him and pressed her lips to his. They were off balance and he put his arms around her to protect her if they fell, and that encouraged her. Kissing her wasn't so terrible although he would later wonder if the alcohol had given him that thought.

She broke off the kiss. "Come up to my apartment." She didn't give him a chance to respond before she was kissing him again, but this time she was doing her best to work him up by grinding against him. Hell, what did it matter what he did when Hilde didn't want to be with him anymore. Bridget would be a little fun before he passed out, and if he wasn't too hung over in the morning when he woke up with her maybe he could ...

"Maxwell."

Bridget broke away from him with a gasp and Duo turned expecting to face Liam, but Heero Yuy was standing a few feet away from him, and he was wearing his Preventer uniform.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Bridget said quickly before ducking into the apartment building.

Duo took a stumbling step towards Heero. "Why did you have to go and spoil what was going to be a fun night?"

Fortunately, Heero closed the distance between them because Duo lost his balance and would have fallen on his face if Heero hadn't caught him. "I doubt the night would have been fun for either of you. You smell like you fell into a vat of whiskey."

"I just had one or two or four or five drinks," Duo told him. Everything was spinning terribly around him now, reminding of times his gundam had been knocked back end over end. "Heero, I'm going to ..."

Heero shoved him to his knees and held his head over a gutter vent where he proceeded to vomit repeatedly, even after there was nothing left. When his stomach finally stopped cramping, Heero dragged him to his feet.

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?" His voice sounded ridiculously slurred even to him.

"Where do you think?"

"Back to the restaurant?"

"You want your boss seeing you like this?" asked Heero wryly.

"Do you want Relena seeing me like this?"

"Better you than me."

"How did you find me?"

Heero snorted. "I wasn't looking for you. I was taking a walk, checking the neighborhoods around the hotel when I saw a couple getting frisky in public. I was going to let them be, but then I realized you were a part of the couple."

"You should have left me with her." Duo tried to strike him, but Heero easily evade him. "Why should I go to bed alone when she is sleeping with that bastard?"

Heero gave a long-suffering sigh as he dragged Duo's arm over his shoulders and slipped his arm around his waist. "You can sleep it off in Relena's suite. She has an extra room."

"Don't you use that room?" And then Duo giggled. "I suppose not."

As he dragged Duo along with him, Heero was rougher than he needed to be, but Duo was too drunk to complain, even when he tossed him into the service elevator at the hotel and his head smacked against the wall before he crumpled into a heap on the floor. Heero shoved him aside with his booted foot so that there was room for him, then stepped in with him. The motion of the moving elevator made Duo gag, but Heero's threat that he would regret making a mess made him swallow the bile that rose to his throat.

Once the elevator stopped, Heero hauled Duo out and helped him down the hall to the suite where Relena was staying. He let him drop to the floor as he keyed in the code to open the door, then grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him inside.

"We have a visitor," he announced, and Duo looked up to see Relena standing nearby, her lips pursed, and her brows drawn together.

Duo grunted a greeting, and she turned her gaze from him to Heero. "You're taking care of him." She walked away, and they both watched her until she disappeared into another room.

"You're not getting any tonight," Duo predicted. "Serves you right after spoiling my plans."

"You'll thank me in the morning." Heero jerked him to his feet and helped him to another room where he shoved him on the bed and left him alone.

As the room spun around him mercilessly, Duo vowed that he wasn't going to thank Heero Yuy for anything in the morning.


	24. Chapter 23

**TWENTY-THREE**

A pain shooting through his skull awoke Duo the following morning, and at first, he thought that someone had slammed something over his head, but the sour taste in his mouth and his roiling gut reminded him why he was in this shape and where he was. He threw his arm across his eyes to block the sunlight pouring through a window, and he would have gone back to sleep, but he heard the door slide open.

"I thought I heard you moving around," he heard Heero say.

"I wasn't moving around," grumbled Duo wishing the other man would go away.

"Get up and be ready to have breakfast with us in twenty minutes."

Duo moved his arm so that he could peek at Heero who was standing in the open doorway. "Do I need to?"

"Get your ass out of bed! There's a pot of strong coffee ready for you." He turned to leave, but he paused to say over his shoulder, "Dorothy called to ask why you didn't answer Mia's call. They are worried about you."

Shooting upright, he would have shouted about the pain throbbing in his head, but he was afraid he would lose the contents of his stomach. He was worried about what Mia might be thinking after he didn't answer her call. "I need to talk to Mia."

"You're in no shape to speak to her. By now Dorothy will have explained that you had to work, and that Mia will be able to see you tomorrow. For now, get ready for breakfast."

After Heero left, Duo reluctantly dragged his alcohol abused body off the bed and trudged to the bathroom where he pulled off his clothing to drop in a pile on the floor before climbing into the shower. Resting his head against the wall under the shower head, he stayed under a hot spray for several minutes until he felt able to wash with the shampoo and body soap samples provided by the hotel. After rinsing, he felt better, so he turned off the shower and stepped out. He dried off with one of the hotel's plush towels and wrapped it around his waist before swiping his clothing from the floor and returning to the bedroom.

He was surprised to find Hilde sitting on the bed wearing a blue blouse and black skirt of respectable length along with high heeled pumps. She was holding a mug of steaming coffee in her hands.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with annoyance. She was the last person he expected to see today after their argument last night.

When she raised her gaze to his, he saw that her eyes were bloodshot and that she was pale.

Duo grunted. "Bad night?" He remembered seeing that she had started the evening with her fiancé with wine but was drinking something considerably stronger by the time he had left the club with Bridget.

"Not any worse than your own," she observed. She held out the cup to him, and taking it from her, he drank some of the hot brew, savoring it for a moment before he handed the mug back to her.

"You didn't tell me what you are doing here." He suspected either Heero or Relena had called her, and that made him wonder what he had whined about when he was drunk.

"Relena has some fundraising event in Sector 1 and called me to ask that I accompany her. She was vague on the details, so I think she may have had another reason to get me to come here."

Duo didn't say anything for a moment as he stood before her, his hair dripping water on the floor. She looked as miserable as he felt, and part of him wanted to comfort her, but she was the reason he was in this shape to begin with. Despite his best effort not to, he remembered how she had looked dancing with Andreas Becker, that bastard touching her bare skin, evoking images of how he must touch her when they were in bed together.

"I should let you get dressed," she said as she rose unsteadily to her feet and headed to the door. She stopped with her hand hovering over the keypad to open it, her back turned to him and, as if she had been reading his thoughts, she said, "I didn't sleep with him, Duo. I drank too much and passed out in the car on the way back to my apartment, and I didn't wake up until I got Relena's call. I was in my bed alone, wearing what I had on last night. Andreas was gone, but I'm sure he is furious with me."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" groused Duo. He wasn't going to let her know that he was mollified by what she had revealed.

She turned around and leaned back against the door. "What do you want from me, Duo?"

He rubbed his face with his hands and shoved his fingers through his hair to lace behind his head, pressing against his skull to stave off the worst of his headache. "I don't know, Hilde." Madame Chantal's arguments against Hilde were starting to make sense to him. How could she not know that he didn't want to share her with another man unless she didn't realistically see a future with him?

A brief, tense silence between them ensued before she asked, "Are you still willing to help me with Dr. Koenig? We can meet tonight."

Despite knowing that he should just put an end to what was between them, he said, "I told you I would help you, so I will. I'll avoid Bridget and you can inform Heero if your fiancé carries you off to a nightclub again. That way he can let me know so I won't wait for you all night."

Her shoulders slumping, Hilde lowered her head. "I ... I can't keep putting him off, and last night was an opportunity to be seen with him after news reports have been suggesting that our engagement is on the rocks."

"You wouldn't want anyone to think there is trouble in paradise." Duo was disgusted with them both for what they were doing behind Becker's back, but he couldn't end it. Duo was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it even after she married the man.

Without responding, she turned and left him alone. Duo squeezed his head between his hands for a moment and then went about dressing which included the lengthy process of braiding his hair. When he finally walked out to join the others, they were already sitting at the table on the balcony where they had begun to eat.

"You're fifteen minutes late," Relena observed as she indicated the empty seat beside her which was across from Hilde. "I dished you up already."

Glancing down, he saw that there were a couple of capsules on his plate, so he started his meal with pain relievers and a tall glass of water. After she took the coffee pot on the table and poured him a cup, he gave her a nod of thanks although he could have done without the scrambled eggs she served him without asking. He noticed that Hilde was nursing her coffee more than eating her own breakfast, and she was avoiding looking at him.

"You should pay a visit to Fitz McElroy tonight," Heero said after several moments of silence in which he and Relena enjoyed their meal while Duo and Hilde sipped their coffee.

Duo glanced at Hilde before looking back at Heero. "I have something else to do tonight."

"Clear your calendar and make that trip to Sector 10. Relena will have to leave before the elections to avoid the suspicion that the Earth Sphere United Nation may be attempting to direct the outcome, and I won't be able to stay behind without arousing suspicions about what I might be investigating."

Hilde set aside her coffee. "If he's going to Sector 10, I'm going with him."

"You are not coming with me!" Duo groaned at the pain the exclamation gave him. "It might be dangerous." The last time she went to Sector 10 she got a concussion.

"Is that supposed to frighten me?" She winced, proving that she was in as much pain as he was.

Relena released a long, loud sigh and looked at Heero. "When is Duo going to learn that he can't hold her back?"

"I don't think he is capable." Heero rose. "Let's go. You don't want to be late for your meeting."

Hilde started to rise to go with them, but Heero put his hand on her shoulder and forced her back down. "Get some rest. The fundraiser is this afternoon."

"Then why did you call me so early in the morning and insist that I have breakfast with you?"

Relena glanced at Duo before saying to her, "I don't think I need to tell you. I'll be back at noon to pick you up."

Heero didn't say anything to Duo, but he raised a brow at him before leaving with Relena. When they were gone, he stared at his plate and decided that even the sight of the scrambled eggs was making his stomach lurch, so he reached for a slice of buttered toast to nibble on. He didn't know what Relena and Heero expected of them. Either they made up and continued their sordid affair or they would decide once and for all that what they were doing was wrong and stop. Both scenarios made Duo feel miserable, but he could not even imagine doing the latter.

"I need to lay down, "Hilde said after a moment in which the only sound was him munching on toast. "I'll use Relena's room."

He watched her push away from the table and head down the hall to the large bedroom at the end. Duo set aside the toast, deciding that she had the right idea, but he went to the room he had slept in the previous night although he should have just left and returned to the restaurant. After collapsing on the bed, he couldn't sleep, not when he knew that Hilde was just down the hall. He wasn't in any shape to talk to her, but he wanted to be with her. Damn! He couldn't do the right thing and give her up.

With a groan, he rose from the bed and headed to the room down the hall. As he approached, he could hear muffled sobs and his heart wrenched. Duo felt like a bastard because he knew his sullen behavior at the table had upset her. Entering the room, he saw that she had neatly hung her clothing over a chair and she was lying across the bed wearing only her underclothes. Her body was shaking as she wept in a pillow and his heart ached painfully because he loved her and couldn't stand to see her in such anguish.

Easing off his shoes, he crawled onto the bed with her, startling her when he slipped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. She tried to push him away, but he didn't release her and after a moment she relaxed in his embrace.

"I don't want to fight with you, Duo."

"We don't need to fight," he reassured her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he didn't want to heap his feelings on her shoulders when she had to deal with her wedding to Andreas Becker along with suspecting her psychiatrist of manipulating her and discovering that she may have a sibling.

She twisted around in his embrace and tipped her head so that she could look at him. Her swollen eyes were framed by spiked lashes and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was so hurt when I saw you with that other woman."

No less hurt than he had been to see her with the man she had agreed to spend the rest of her life with, but Duo kept that to himself. He wiped her tears away with the backs of his fingers. "I hardly know her. I only took her out for a drink to please Madame Chantal." He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "I would rather have been sneaking around in the dark in the doctor's office with you."

She tried to smile at him, but her lips were quivering. "We can do it tonight."

"I look forward to it." He tucked her face against his neck like he did with Mia when he comforted her. "Let's get some sleep. I'm in no shape to work later and I doubt you'll be an asset to Relena if you accompany her in the condition you are in."

"I'm looking forward to going to the club with you," she murmured against his neck.

He didn't want her to go with him, but if he didn't take her, he knew she would go on her own. "Don't dress like you did last night or everyone is going to be looking at you." He didn't need to add that someone might recognize her, and it would get back to Becker.

"You liked what I was wearing?" she asked drowsily.

Not when it wasn't for me, he wanted to say, but he only nodded. Soon she lapsed into deep, even breathing which eventually evolved into soft snores. The rhythm coupled with the strong pain medication that Relena had provided soon put him to sleep and he didn't wake until he felt Hilde moving away from him.

Reluctantly opening his eyes, he watched her leave the bed, and a glance at the clock on the bedside table warned him that he should do the same because he needed to be at work in less than half an hour. That was plenty of time for him to ride the elevator down and walk across the street, so he watched Hilde put on her clothing wishing they had a few more minutes to be alone because he'd like to peel it back off.

As she was buttoning her blouse, she looked at him, and for a moment she didn't say anything, but her fingers paused on the buttons. And then she said, "Relena is waiting for me, and she warned me that if I took too long getting ready she would send Heero in here."

Duo sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I have to get to work anyway." He crossed to her and reached up to finish buttoning her shirt, and when he did it to the top, she pushed his fingers away and unfastened the top two despite his frown.

She frowned back at him. "I'm not your grandmother."

He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. "I know, but I don't like other guys looking at you, even if it is just a peek."

Hilde laughed and tilted her head up to him. "You think there will be men at this luncheon? If there are, they aren't the kind of men who will be ogling my cleavage."

Duo dipped his head to kiss her, but the sound of someone clearing their throat at the door stopped him and they both turned their heads to see Heero leaning against the door jamb with his arms folded over his chest. Hilde brushed Duo's lips with hers and moved away.

"I'm ready."

Heero stepped aside so she could get past him. "Go with Relena. I'll take Maxwell out the back and join you at the car."

When Hilde moved past him, Heero didn't even look at her. Duo followed her, and they came into the salon together in time to see Relena closing the door, but not before she directed an annoyed look at them.

"Was that for me or you?" asked Duo.

"Me," said Heero as they entered the hall and headed towards the service elevator. "I told her that I was going to the club to be nearby if you needed help tonight, and when I told her she couldn't come and that I was taking Hilde with me, she had a few words for me that I wasn't even sure she knew."

Duo would have laughed except that Heero had just said he was taking Hilde. "I thought Hilde was coming with me."

Stepping into the elevator, Heero looked at him. "That's not a good idea. If someone is watching her ..."

"You think someone is watching her?" Duo could well imagine who, and while he didn't give a damn about Andreas Becker's feelings, he didn't want to cause Hilde any trouble.

"Hilde mentioned something about her driver reporting her visit to the hotel, and while she was trying to be flippant, I think she is concerned about his surveillance. While Relena was at her meeting, I hacked into his phone records and found that the driver has made several calls to Kurt Vogel, the campaign manager for Andreas Becker."

Her driver was a spy for her fiancé? "I suppose her actions reflect on his campaign."

"You can bet that her driver isn't the only person watching her. Andreas Becker's opponent would like to get some dirt on him this late into the campaign, and if his fiancée were to be caught with another man, Becker's standing among the Teutons would take a hit. Dorothy left her trunk of disguises behind for Hilde to use, so she can ..."

"Am I the only one wondering why she was traveling with it in the first place?" interrupted Duo with a chuckle.

Heero laughed. "She didn't say so, but I am guessing that Quatre strongly suggested that she leave it behind. She's not going to run out on him again, but he doesn't like the reminder of how easy it had been for her to give him the slip. Anyway, Hilde will return to the hotel with Relena and tell her driver that she will be spending the evening. Relena has something lined up for them to attend together tomorrow in Sector 2, and because that is Becker's home sector, he won't question why she is spending so much time with Relena when it will benefit his campaign. I'll bring Hilde to the club."

"I would rather she came with me." Duo had been hoping to roll a date with her and work for Heero together.

Heero looked at him with a frown. "I think it would be best to keep you two apart. Even with a disguise, if Becker is looking for a connection between you and Hilde, he won't have difficulty making one if you show up at the club with a woman her size even if she is wearing a wig."

The elevator door opened at the ground level where they stepped out and parted ways. As he walked to the restaurant, Duo thought about Heero's explanation for taking Hilde to the club, and while it seemed reasonable, he doubted it was the whole truth. Heero might be justified in not trusting them together even though he didn't know how off task they had become while searching her father's things for proof that he had an illegitimate child. Granted, he hadn't been working for Heero when he was at the Schbeiker mansion. Duo liked to think he could be professional but being with Hilde had him thinking about things other than the task at hand.

Entering the restaurant from the back, he headed towards the kitchen and was putting his cooking smock over his shirt when he saw Madame Chantal end her conversation with Rogelio to come to him.

"I didn't hear you come in last night," she said with a knowing smile.

Duo didn't want her to get the wrong idea about how the night had ended with Bridget. "I had a little too much to drink, and I stayed with a friend."

Madame Chantal patted his arm. "Bridget told me all about it. I talked to Mia this morning for you. I think she is starting to get used to the separation."

Duo didn't want her getting too used to the separation or the lifestyle she was going to be experiencing with the richest couple in the Earth Sphere United Nation. "I'm sorry I missed her."

"I'm glad you had a good time last night." She patted his shoulder and moved away.

He had expected her to gloat a little about how she was right, and then he would have to grit his teeth because he hadn't had that good a time watching Hilde with Andreas Becker. Bridget was an attractive woman, but he was not interested in her in the way that he was Hilde, and he would have to make Madame Chantal understand that putting other women in his path wasn't going to tempt him to stray. For better or worse, he was committed to Hilde.

The soup special for the evening was one that Duo had made before, so he didn't have to concentrate on making it, and when he finished, Rogelio complimented his work. Duo was settling into a job that he didn't want, sharing a woman with another man and living separated from his daughter, the only person in his life that loved him unconditionally. This was not what he had envisioned for his future when he returned to the colony six years ago. But then he had been little more than a naive teenager who thought his experiences in the war would help him rise above his station on the colony. His salvaging business had been taking off and he was planning to ask the woman he loved to marry him. That was before Hilde revealed her background, and he didn't even have time to rethink the dynamic between them before he was arrested and sent to jail. He wasn't so naive to believe that his downward spiral wasn't connected to her, and tonight he intended to get some answers from Fitz McElroy.

The day seemed to drag on interminably because he was looking forward to going to the club in Sector 10, but his shift finally came to an end with only one thing left to do. He needed to get from the kitchen to the apartment where he could shower and change without running into either Madame Chantal or Bridget. Unfortunately, that was impossible because they were both in her office and there was no way to get past them.

They were having a conversation that had Madame Chantal looking somber, but when she saw Duo, she brightened. "Here is the answer to your problem."

He didn't want to be a rude, so he asked, "What problem is that?"

Bridget turned to look at him. "Liam didn't show up for work, and he called to tell me he was coming to my apartment to discuss our future."

"I'd like you to take her home," Madame Chantal told him.

Duo wondered if he would be able to accomplish that and have enough time to get to the club before Hilde. She wanted to know why Fitz McElroy had testified against Duo as much as he did, and he didn't put it past her to confront Fitz on her own. "I'm meeting a friend at the club in Sector 10," he told her. "I've mentioned him before, Heero Yuy."

Madame Chantal clapped her hands together. "That is perfect! Take Bridget to the club with you. You will have a wonderful time." She looked at Bridget. "One of the other girls will surely have something you can wear so that you don't need to return to your place. Duo will bring you back here to spend the night, and in the morning, we can call the police to arrange for a restraining order against Liam."

If he had to bring Bridget back to the restaurant apartment, he wouldn't be able to find a way to spend the night with Hilde. Duo needed to have a serious talk with Madame Chantal about meddling in his personal life soon, or he was going to end up married to Bridget with a half dozen children around his ankles.

When Bridget left them to ask her friends to borrow an outfit suitable for going to a dance club, Duo decided to take the opportunity to set Madame Chantal straight. "I appreciate you trying to help me ..."

"I'm not helping you," she cut him off. "I'm helping Bridget. When she told me how bothered you were about Andreas Becker being at the nightclub, I knew you were less upset by his presence and more by seeing him with Hilde Schbeiker. I can't do anything but remind you that she can never be yours. If you are satisfied by getting what you can from her behind her fiancé's back, then that is your business and not mine."

Duo was taken aback because she was clearly upset by his choice. "I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say. He didn't have it in him to tell her to mind her own business when she cared about him and had done nothing but help him as much as he would allow her ever since he was released from prison.

She sighed deeply. "I was hoping you wouldn't make the same mistake I did."

Before he could ask her about the mistake, Bridget returned with the news that one of the other waitresses would bring a dress and shoes for her while she was showering. They went to the apartment together, and before Duo went to his own room, Madame Chantal showed Bridget to the spare room which also had its own bathroom. Later, when he came out to the living area dressed in black again, this time a t-shirt and cargo pants, Madame Chantal frowned at him, but Duo wasn't going to change. After a few minutes, Bridget came out wearing a skin-tight, short red dress and high heels that had Madame Chantal gaping, but before she could say anything, Duo hurried her out with the warning not to wait up for them.

As they waited for the train, a lot of men gave her appreciative looks that she ignored. She was excited about going to the club that she had heard a lot about from her friends, and she was grateful to Duo for taking her. Duo had the feeling that they were being watched, but a quick glance around didn't reveal anything suspicious. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in her problems with her ex-boyfriend, but here he was, right in the middle.

The train finally arrived, and Duo was relieved to leave behind whoever was watching them. He couldn't dismiss the possibility that Bridget was not the target. The hotel was close enough to the restaurant for Andreas Becker to put two and two together, and he wished he had asked Hilde if Becker had seen him at the nightclub the previous evening. If Becker had, he probably wouldn't have said anything to her, but it was within reason that he would have him tailed, especially if Hilde wasn't going back to her apartment. The only thing anyone spying on him could report was that he was going on a date with a woman he worked with.

Duo had every reason to feel miserable for Bridget who deserved the full attention of a man taking her out dancing instead of looking forward to meeting another woman. But he could only think about how he would manage to find time to be alone with Hilde.


	25. Chapter 24

**TWENTY-FOUR**

When they arrived at the club, there was a long line of people standing behind a velvet covered rope waiting outside, but Duo recognized one of the men working at the door, so he led Bridget to the head of the line. "Hey, Bluto, I don't suppose you'd consider letting an old friend in?"

The man who resembled a human tank with a thick beard looked at Duo with a scowl. "I don't think the boss wants the kind of trouble you're bringing with you."

Duo slipped an arm around Bridget's waist. She started in surprise, but then moved close to him and put her hand on his chest. He hoped Hilde didn't see them or that Bridget wasn't getting the wrong idea. "I swear that this fine lady is the only trouble I'm bringing in with me."

Bluto looked Bridget over from head to foot, then looked back at Duo. "Fitz would have my head if I let you in."

"Didn't I send some business your way not so long ago?" He had introduced Dorothy Catalonia to him, and she had surely paid him more money than he could hope to see in years for using his considerable forgery skills to provide her with several passports to keep her on the run from Quatre Winner and Heero Yuy for months. Duo doubted he had managed to save the money to buy his shop without her help.

The other man blew out his breath and stepped aside, but he caught Duo's arm to stop him so that he could say in his ear, "Consider the debt paid."

This small gesture was hardly equal to the fortune he made from the business he had sent his way, but he didn't say so as he took Bridget through the double doors that had managed to keep the loud music contained inside. There were lights flashing all around with the heavy thumping beat, and he could sense that Bridget wanted to join the other men and women on the dance floor. Duo wouldn't call it dancing so much as hopping up and down to the rhythm of the music, but he could at least do that. Because he didn't want to keep Bridget from having a good time, he pushed his way through people onto the floor that had lights flashing through the transparent floor tiles.

They danced several minutes until the song changed, and then Duo suggested they have a drink. Bridget wanted to keep dancing, so he pointed out a table where he would wait for her and told her he would order her a drink when she was ready to sit. Not long after claiming the table, a waitress came by to take his order, and after she left him, he wasn't alone for long before someone slid onto the seat with him. He wouldn't have recognized Hilde in the short-haired platinum blond wig if she hadn't been with Heero. She was wearing a sparkling blue dress just as tight and short as Bridget's and her heels were so high he was surprised she could walk in them.

"How did you get in?" he asked them. Because they already had drinks in their hands, he knew they had gotten there before him.

"There's just something about Heero Yuy that makes people do as he asks," Hilde told him with a smile.

Heero frowned at her and then said, "I flashed my Preventer badge and told him that unless he wanted my office investigating the illegal production of identification documents, he would let me and my date in."

Duo laughed. "I guess that's why he didn't appreciate me reminding him of Dorothy Catalonia. I think we have effectively burned that bridge. Have you seen Fitz yet?"

"We've been watching for you," Heero told him.

"I saw you dancing," Hilde said as she grabbed his hand. "I didn't know you liked to dance or I would have taken you out to a club years ago."

Heero didn't stop them, and Duo would have pushed past him anyway. Unlike with Bridget who he let do her own thing, he held Hilde with his hands on her waist as they bounced to the music. She clasped her hands behind his neck, and as their bodies touched, he knew that Heero was right to chaperone their trip to the club because he would rather be doing this than speaking to Fitz. They danced through a couple of songs before Duo broke away from her, grabbed her hand and led her back to the table where Bridget was sitting next to Heero sipping from the glass of wine he had ordered for her. She looked uneasy, so Duo guessed that Heero had been anti-social, but she brightened when she saw him.

Duo slid into the booth to sit next to her while Hilde sat next to Heero on the other side. "I see you have met my friend, Heero."

Bridget moved closer to Duo, and short of falling off the edge of the seat, there was no way of avoiding her rubbing against his body from shoulder to ankle. "I didn't realize that he was your friend when he interrupted us last night. I spent the night worrying that you were under arrest." She looked at Hilde who was watching them without any expression at all, and she reached out her hand to her. "My name is Bridget."

Hilde took her hand. "Mary, but my friends call me Mitzi."

Casually draping his arm behind Hilde and resting his hand on her shoulder, Heero said, "Mitzi is Relena Darlian's personal assistant. She's been working hard since arriving on the colony keeping Ambassador Darlian on schedule, and this is the first night she has had free since arriving."

Bridget looked from Hilde to Duo and then back to her. "Do you know Duo?"

"We've met," she said with a faint curve of her lips, and Duo couldn't help thinking about the previous day. That little smile made him want to do a lot more with her as soon as possible.

Curling her arm around Duo's, Bridget said, "Duo and I work together at the restaurant across the street from the hotel where the ambassador is staying. He makes the daily soups and I am a waitress."

Even though Heero wasn't showing what he might be thinking on his face, he was probably annoyed that Duo had arrived with a date and he wished he could find an excuse to explain how he was forced to bring Bridget with him.

After taking another sip from her wine, Bridget remarked, "I was surprised that Duo got us in. The line outside was very long, but he knew one of the men at the door from his days living in the outer sectors. I grew up in Sector 8, but now I have an apartment in Sector 3 not far from the restaurant."

"That is convenient," remarked Hilde. She looked at Heero. "How about dancing?"

Duo would rather not see him dancing with Hilde, could hardly stand watching him with his arm touching her as they sat together. Heero removed his arm, and after Hilde stood up, he joined her, but he held out his hand to Bridget.

"Would you like to dance, Bridget?"

She looked uncertain and glanced at Duo as if for permission, so he said, "Don't mind me. I saw a friend or two that I want to talk to, so he can keep you company on the dance floor."

"If you don't mind, then I'd love to dance." She slid off the seat and took Heero's hand. "I hope you can keep up with me. I don't think Duo can."

"Try me," said Heero with a smile, but as he walked away, he gave Duo a stern look over his shoulder so he knew he should get to work.

After they had disappeared into the dancing throng, Duo stood and held out his hand to Hilde. "Sorry about bringing Bridget."

Her smile looked forced as she allowed him to help her to her feet. "I understand. You can't say no."

"She's going through a rough patch." He doubted Hilde wanted to hear the sordid story of Bridget's ex-boyfriend and his threats. "Let's look around for Fitz. He's probably in the VIP section mingling with the rich and famous."

"I hope nobody recognizes me," commented Hilde as they moved away from the table.

Duo chuckled. "Nobody is going to recognize you, Mitzi."

She laughed. "My backstory was Relena's idea."

"I've never seen her personal assistant."

"Because she doesn't have one. She says they get in the way." Her expression grew somber. "You're probably going to find out anyway, but I want to be the one to tell you that Andreas showed up at the fundraiser today, more to schmooze with Relena than any other reason. She won't endorse any candidate, but it helps his campaign to be seen with her and with me."

"I suppose I'll see a lot of pictures of you and him together in the news were I to check," he remarked, trying to sound disinterested. He wasn't going to go looking for any pictures because that would only upset him when he was having difficulty reconciling himself to the reality that she was going to marry Andreas Becker.

Hilde didn't say anything, so they moved through the crowd towards an area that was cordoned off with a velvet covered rope and guarded by two beefy men that Duo didn't recognize, he could see plush sofas populated by well-dressed men and women sipping expensive liquors. He couldn't see Fitz McElroy, but the section curved around to afford patrons even more privacy, so he walked up to one of the men guarding the entrance to the exclusive area of the club.

"Would you let Fitz know that Duo Maxwell is here to see him."

The guard looked at Duo as if he were a pest that he would like to swat before his gaze rested on Hilde. "He might want to see your date, but I doubt he's interested in you."

"You could tell him that I'm here and let him decide if he wants to see me. We're old friends."

The other guard snorted. "Everyone says they're old friends."

"I'm not 'everyone'." Duo hadn't considered that he wouldn't be able to get to Fitz.

Hilde looked as though she was going to step up and do or say something that he worried would get them in trouble because she was wearing a frustrated frown, but before she could get a chance to speak, a woman he recognized appeared behind the guards.

"Duo Maxwell! What are you doing out here?" Bette pushed her way between the two guards to stand before Duo. He doubted any woman could be more scantily clad and still be considered dressed.

"I'm trying to get in to see Fitz, but these guys won't let me through."

Bette laughed and shoved the behemoths apart. "Duo can come in. Fitz will be happy to see him." She gave Hilde an accessing look before turning back to the guards. "His date can come with him."

Grunting, they moved aside and one of them unhooked the rope so they could pass. Bette pushed her way between Hilde and Duo, grabbing his arm and pressing herself against him as she led them further into the section. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Duo. Have you given any more thought to my proposition, or is this skinny bitch covering all your bases for free?"

Duo wanted to shake her off because Hilde was glowering at Bette. "I'm sorry, but I have the same answer as last time."

Bette glanced briefly at Hilde and then said, "I didn't realize that you preferred blonds."

Looking past her, Duo spotted Fitz sitting at a table with a beautiful woman on each side, a drink in one hand, a fat cigar in the other. "I suppose you warned Fitz that I might be stopping by, just like you warned your friends that I was asking questions about their business operations."

Her exaggerated shrug made her breasts bounce and Duo saw Hilde roll her eyes. "I wasn't going to take the chance that someone overheard us talking and reported us."

He couldn't fault her for looking out for herself.

Fitz was an older, wiry man with thinning hair and a sparse mustache and trimmed beard on his rat-like face. He might be surrounding himself with beautiful people, but he certainly wasn't one of them despite the finely tailored suit he was wearing. He looked away from the two women clinging to him to give Bette a lascivious look until he noticed Duo and he looked panicked.

To put him at ease, Duo splayed his hands before him. "I'm not here to cause you any trouble, Fitz. I just want a few questions answered."

Narrowing his gaze, Fitz puffed on his cigar for a moment before he nudged the women on both sides. "Why don't you lovely ladies go have a dance while I talk to my friend."

With exaggerated pouts, they slid off the plush seat and left in the direction of the dance floor. Duo sat, pulling Hilde down beside him, and Fitz looked at her with interest until Bette took the place on the other side of him. Based on their familiarity with each other, he was a regular customer of hers.

"Jasper told me you would be coming by. I don't have much to tell you except that you should stay out of our business." He puffed on the cigar and glanced around nervously, making Duo wonder if there were surveillance cameras.

"Would I be correct in guessing that you have the same sort of arrangement as other businesses on the colony?" When Fitz didn't respond, Duo went on. "You have a successful club. What are you getting in return for handing over your profits to someone else?"

"What do you think? I was able to purchase this club because its previous owner left the colony whether on his own or through a garbage chute, nobody knows. I'm guessing he wasn't willing to pay the price of doing business on this colony. On the other hand, I am willing to pay, especially when I know the consequences of trying to cut corners."

Duo felt Hilde pushing at his thigh, and knowing what information she wanted most, he asked, "About that, Fitz. How were you able to buy this club?"

The other man stubbed out the cigar. "Is that what you really want to know?" He squinted at him. "Aren't you supposed to stay away from me?"

"I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want some answers. You and I both know that you were lying at my trial. There's no one around to keep you from telling the truth now. We're both from the streets, so I'm not going to blame you for making a lucrative deal. I just want to know who I need to avoid pissing off, so I don't end up back in the dungeon."

Fitz looked at Hilde for a moment, and then back at Duo. "I heard Ellie ran out on you."

"Ellie was never mine to begin with."

"That much is true. She was making quite a bit of money on her side job when she was living with you. I was surprised that you actually tried to make a go of it with her."

Duo hadn't been trying to make a go of it with her. They had nothing in common except Mia, but he wasn't going to explain that to Fitz. "I think she has found what she was looking for."

"A rich man to take care of her," spoke up Bette as she examined her fingernails.

Fitz nodded to Hilde. "Who's the new girl?"

"Mitzi Ferris," Hilde told him with a smile. "I met Duo through my boss, Relena Darlian."

"You have a lot of friends in high places," commented Fitz. "Bluto told me about that rich woman you connected him with about a year ago. She paid him enough to open that smoke shop near the plaza. Unfortunately, he doesn't make enough money to feed himself, so he works for me a few nights of the week. You should stick to your own kind, Maxwell. That's what got you into trouble six years ago." He looked at Hilde. "Are you one of his rich friends?"

At first, she hesitated, and then she laughed. "I've been asking the ambassador for a raise, but she keeps telling me that she can't authorize it or that she doesn't think her budget can handle it. So, no, I'm not a rich friend."

Fitz grunted. "Good. I'd hate to see Maxwell rammed back into the dungeon because someone doesn't like his choice in women."

"Is that what happened six years ago?" asked Duo, feeling Hilde stiffen beside him.

To his surprise, Fitz nodded. "Some rich Herman sent his goon into the sector to find someone willing to nail your ass to the wall. He didn't like that you were banging his precious daughter."

Before Hilde could react, Duo grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "So, you stepped up to take advantage of the offer."

Fitz shrugged. "Why not? The pay was good, and all I had to do was tell a few lies. I'm a good liar."

Sensing that Hilde wanted to know more, Duo asked, "What was that Herman's name?"

"Herman. Those Teutons don't like it when we call them that, but they don't tell us their names when they come to the outer sectors to buy our drugs and screw our whores. I didn't care who he was as long as I got the money I was promised."

"But you know it was her father?" Duo pressed him.

"I assumed it was because I heard the goon talking to his boss. He wanted you as far away as possible from that pretty little thing you were shacking up with when you returned to the colony." Fitz leaned in towards him. "Sorry about sending Ellie your way, but mostly because she didn't pay me what she promised for helping her out. I thought mixing you up with her might make Herman happy, but I never heard from him again after I received my payment."

Hilde moved restlessly, so Duo squeezed her hand to warn her to stay out of the conversation.

"If you don't want the kid, drop her off at an orphanage. I saw her once. She's cute, so she'll get adopted right away."

His stomach roiled at the thought of Mia being left at an orphanage. "She's mine. I'll take care of her."

"I heard you sold her to that rich woman from Earth."

"I didn't sell my daughter." Duo hoped he didn't lose his temper.

Fitz watched him for a moment without speaking, and then he leaned closer. "Listen, you're a decent guy and you're making me feel bad for testifying against you ..."

"That wasn't my intent." Duo wanted to point out he should have felt bad about selling five years of his life a long time ago.

The other man reached into his pocket and withdrew a magnetized card that he handed over to Duo. "I have to use this to make my payments each week. You can have it for two days. If you're as smart as you used to be, you can use it to figure out how to find where the money is going."

Taking the card and tucking it into his pants pocket, Duo asked, "Aren't you afraid of the consequences?"

"I thought about you rotting in prison, and if I didn't think you would bounce back like you always do, I would have felt a little guiltier. Hell, I feel worse about sending Ellie in your direction when she wouldn't have anything to do with my first solution to her problem, knocking her up myself." He shrugged. "And I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm sick of sending my hard-earned money to those inner sector bastards who already have enough money to wipe their asses with."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell the authorities I spoke to you. They will probably question why I was here in the first place."

The other man glanced at the tattoos on his wrists. "Don't worry. I'm not a fan of colony police. They've been trying to get their own slice of my pie, but I've managed to put them off with threats of my friend in Sector 1. I'm glad they don't realize that I don't even know who that Herman is."

Duo patted the pocket into which he had placed the card. "I'll get it back to you in a couple of days." He glanced at Bette. "I can meet her at Jasper's shop and give it to her. I'm thinking of getting a tattoo anyway."

"Maybe then we can conclude our own business," she said with a smile and a wink.

He nudged Hilde who stood so he could get out of the luxurious booth. "It's been nice doing business with you, Fitz. Stop by Le Beau Papillon and try my cooking any time."

Fitz snorted. "I'll be sure and bring Bette and we'll see what those snooty Teutons think of us dining among them."

Duo ushered Hilde away, half-afraid that she would react to his remark, but when he tried to lead her back to the table where Bridget and Heero were probably waiting, she balked. "I want to talk," she told him. "And it's too noisy in here."

He saw a terrace where there were fewer people enjoying a breeze generated by fans on one end. Couples stood together under light generated by the moon that was visible through the open shields since the colony had rotated away from the sun. Duo led her to a far corner where he drew her into his arms, and before she could speak, he kissed her like he had been wanting to do all night. She was tense at first, but then she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. There was more that he wanted to do, but he wasn't going to be able to get away from Bridget to be with her that night.

Reluctantly, he broke the kiss when he was afraid they might get too carried away. "We should get back to Heero and Bridget."

She put her hand on his arm to stop him. "I wanted to apologize."

Duo looked at her. "For what?" He knew what she was apologizing for and didn't think she had any reason to feel guilty.

"My father sent you to prison."

By the tone of her voice, he could tell that she was ashamed to admit it. The Otto Schbeiker he had met wouldn't have done it no matter what Hilde believed. Duo wondered if she even knew her father and arguing his belief that her father was innocent would just upset her.

"You're not responsible for anybody else's actions."

She shook her head. "I should have kept pretending they weren't part of my life, but out of respect for my parents, I told them I was living with you."

Duo chuckled and reached up to caress her cheek. "Hilde, do you really think your father didn't know about us?"

"If he did, he didn't seem to care enough to confront us. Instead, he pretended to accept our relationship to your face while paying someone to bear false witness to send you to prison for five years so that he wouldn't have to weather the scandal that his daughter was living with ..." She suddenly stopped, probably embarrassed that she was pointing out the very reason why they couldn't be together. He was a nobody from the outer sector and she was a Teuton heiress.

"We need to get back to Heero," he said after a moment of awkward silence between them.

"Not yet." She took his hand and pulled him further into the terrace until they came up against a wall that was obscured in dark shadows. Putting her back against the wall, she pulled him to her. "I want you."

"Someone might see us." He looked around nervously, but they were hidden around a corner, and his only objection melted away.

Sensing that he was giving in, she pulled his head down to hers with one hand so that she could kiss him while grabbing one of his hands to put on her thigh. He slid it up under her dress and was startled to find that she wore nothing beneath. That discovery alone aroused him more than her undoing his pants to get to him, and soon they were together, her legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed her against the wall with each thrust of his body. They muffled the sounds of their pleasure in their kiss, and he regretted when it finally came to an end because he wanted to do so much more with her. He refastened his pants as she straightened her dress, but before they moved out of the shadows, she stretched up to kiss him.

"I'm going to stay with Relena tonight. I already told Andreas that we are going shopping together tomorrow and that he can meet us in Sector 2 in the afternoon."

He was glad she wasn't going back to the place she shared with her fiancé, but he didn't say so. Instead he gave her another kiss that he hoped she would be thinking about later before they headed back into the club to the table where Heero was sitting alone.

"Where's Bridget? Dancing?"

"No. She went to the restroom. At least that's what she said, but I suspect she was looking for you."

"What makes you say that?" Duo asked, but Heero didn't answer. Instead, he nodded past him where he looked over his shoulder to see Bridget returning to the table. Turning back to Heero, he took the card Fitz had given him and handed it to him. "Get your experts to trace this. Fitz needs it back in two days."

Heero shoved the card in a pocket as Bridget came to the table. She glanced briefly at Hilde who had sat by Heero again, and then she looked at Duo. "I'm getting a headache. Can we leave?"

Duo nodded. "Thanks for inviting me out. I enjoyed myself," he told Heero.

Bridget reached out to tug on Duo's hand. "Let's go."

She was quiet all the way to the train station, and during the ride back to Sector 3, she didn't talk much, and he didn't mind when she rested her head against his shoulder. On the walk back to the restaurant from the train station he was mindful of their surroundings because he didn't trust Liam not to leap out from the dark. But they reached the restaurant without incident and found Madame Chantal enjoying her evening tea. She was surprised to see them back, but she didn't ask much about their date before she hurried off to bed.

Duo walked Bridget to the room where she would be staying, but before she went inside, she put her hand on his arm and leaned in to kiss him. If it had been more than a brief kiss, he would have had to cut it off, but she stepped away before he had to worry about hurting her feelings.

"Thank you for taking me out, Duo," she told him with a smile.

"I'm sorry it ended badly for you," he told her honestly. She had been having a good time at the club when they first arrived, and he was glad to have given her the opportunity to forget about Liam.

"Maybe we can do it again some time."

"Maybe we can." He thought he should say it even though he wasn't interested in dating Bridget.

After she closed her door, Duo went to his own room relieved that they ended the evening early because he was still recovering from drinking too much. As he lay in the dark, he thought about what Fitz had told him. He replayed his meeting with Otto Schbeiker in his mind over and over again, but he could not pinpoint one single clue that the man was planning to destroy his life. Either he was an amazing actor or Fitz had misunderstood the situation. That someone from her society would want to keep them apart didn't surprise him. Duo just couldn't believe that it had been her father.


	26. Chapter 25

**TWENTY-FIVE**

 _My dearest son,_

 _Today is the day the doctor told us you would be born. I know such predictions are not accurate, but I must imagine that you will take your first breath today. I can never see you, but I will write the things I can never say to you, and maybe one day, you will read them and know how much I loved you and your mother. But for you to be safe, I can never be a part of your life. I must content myself with imagining how you will emerge into this world thirsting for the excitement of life. I wanted to be with you when you first opened your eyes so that you could see that your father was proud to claim you. That honor was taken from me by someone with the power to threaten both you and your mother. If I cannot be with you, I will have to be satisfied knowing that you are both safe._

 _I hope that you can forgive me because I can barely forgive myself for what I had to do. Giving up the woman that I love and our child is the most painful thing I have ever had to do. Perhaps when you have grown into the strong man I know you will be, your mother will tell you about me and you can decide whether I am worth forgiving._

Folding the letter that she had re-read for the third time, Hilde put it back in her purse as she stepped off the hotel elevator. She had spent the morning with Relena shopping, mostly for lingerie that had them both giggling and blushing like school girls who couldn't imagine wearing the items on the racks. But they both ended up buying a bag full of the erotic undergarments, and Hilde had left hers with Relena who didn't ask why. Hilde didn't want Andreas to see what she had purchased because she wasn't going to wear it for him.

To her surprise, he was standing unavoidably near the elevator when she got off, and she pasted a smile on her lips as he came to her. "Andreas! I thought you were busy today."

He leaned in to kiss her cheeks. "My second meeting this morning was canceled, but I have a joint press conference with Hannibal Grey in the ballroom of this hotel. I just got off the phone with Ambassador Darlian who told me that you were on your way down. Did you enjoy your shopping excursion?"

"I bought a few things," she told him, knowing that he would probably check her card purchases, and since he would see where she had made those purchases and wonder why the lingerie wasn't among her things, she added, "But I gave them as gifts to Relena for her work on the colony."

"Let's have some coffee in the hotel shop and you can tell me all about it."

"I am meeting Lina at Le Beau Papillon," she warned him. "I don't have much time."

"She'll understand why you were late if you tell her you were with me." He put his hand on the small of her back and steered her towards the hotel coffee shop where he ordered them both a latte before seating her at one of the high bistro tables. "I haven't seen enough of you lately."

"I guess we have both been busy." If she had known he would be at the hotel, she would have used the service elevator to avoid him.

"When you left your position at the law firm, I thought I would see more of you." He reached out to take her hand, and when she looked at his face, she could see that he was concerned. "Have you been seeing Dr. Koenig?"

"No," she answered, wanting desperately to take her hand back from his warm grasp. He probably already knew that she hadn't seen her psychiatrist in weeks and suspected that she wasn't taking the medication he had prescribed. If Hilde hadn't met Andreas long after her treatment by Dr. Koenig had begun, she would believe he had some part in drugging her.

Andreas brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. "If you don't think it's necessary, then I won't ask you to see him."

A waiter came to the table with their order, and Hilde was glad to be able to draw her hand away from him. "What are your plans tonight?" She hoped he would be away from the apartment because she was meeting Duo at Dr. Koenig's office at midnight.

Andreas sipped from his coffee. "I'm sorry, but I have a strategy session with Kurt and Werner. The election will be upon us soon and Werner is worried that I have lost some ground lately."

"I am going to see my mother this evening." That would explain her absence at the apartment. "There are some things I want to discuss with her." She was sure that her mother knew who her father was having an affair with and she wanted to know. Reading Otto Schbeiker's heartfelt words for a son he never knew infuriated her because he had never shown any affection for her. He made her feel like an obligation that had been forced on him.

"I hope you are planning to warn her because I don't want you near that performer she has taken into her bed." Andreas was studying her intently as if he could discern another reason for going to her mother's home.

Hilde would have thought it ridiculous that he was jealous of Triton Bloom if she weren't having an affair with Duo. "I will call her. But I doubt that will have any impact on her plans with him." Her latte was too sweet, but she continued to sip from it anyway.

"Let's eat in tomorrow night," he suggested, and she felt his hand on her thigh. She was glad she was wearing slacks because he was stroking upward even though there was nothing keeping anyone from seeing what he was doing under the table.

Laughing nervously, she put her hand over his to stop his wandering fingers. "You can hire a chef again."

He leaned in to brush his lips against her neck below her ear. "I don't want anyone to get between us. I'll bring home something for you to eat, but I'm hungry for only one thing."

Before she could think of a reply, he grasped her chin in his hand and turned her head to give her a kiss that shocked her when he slid his tongue between her lips as his hand moved up to her ribs to rest just below her breast. When he released her, he smiled and raised his cup to drink latte before saying, "If I could, I would cancel my appearance at the press conference and get us a room here for the afternoon."

Hilde didn't know what to say because she was afraid that he would do as he suggested, so she was relieved to see Kurt Vogel heading towards them. "Here comes Kurt. I doubt he would approve of your plan."

Andreas frowned deeply, drank from the coffee and then turned to look at Kurt. "Am I late?"

"No. You have a few moments before you are expected. Hannibal Grey hasn't arrived yet, but it's not unusual for him to be late." Kurt nodded a greeting to Hilde. "I didn't realize you were here, Ms. Schbeiker."

He was lying and they both knew it. Kurt was keeping tabs on her, and by the inquisitive look in his gaze, he was probably wondering what she had been doing with Relena the night before. That Bridget had gone to the club with Duo was fortuitous in case Kurt was having him watched as well.

"I was coming from Ambassador Darlian's room when I ran into Andreas," she told him.

"You've been spending a lot of time with the ambassador," noted Kurt.

"Which is good for my campaign," Andreas reminded him. "She is popular on the colony for her charity work, and my fiancée being able to claim her as a friend is an asset for me."

Kurt didn't respond, but he was watching Hilde suspiciously as she sipped her latte until he finally said, "We should be heading to the ballroom. Will you be joining us, Ms. Schbeiker?"

"I am meeting Lina Richter at the restaurant across the street," Hilde told him.

"Whose idea was it to dine there?"

Hilde saw that Andreas was waiting for the answer to the question as well as Kurt who had asked. They both surely knew that Duo Maxwell worked at the restaurant. "Lina asked me to meet her there. She likes the cuisine and claims there aren't any restaurants in either Sector 1 or 2 that can compete."

Kurt grunted and looked at Andreas. "Let's go." But as they walked away, he looked back over his shoulder at her and she was worried that he would be watching her more closely in the future.

Leaving the latte unfinished – she disliked the sweet drinks Andreas thought she should consume – she left the hotel and crossed the street to the restaurant. There was a hostess in place of Madame Chantal, and she led Hilde to the table where Lina was already sitting. She rose and gave Hilde a hug before they both sat.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but I ran into Andreas at the hotel and he insisted that we sit down together at the coffee shop."

Lina patted her hand. "That is quite all right, dear. I understand how eager he must be to see you since the two of you have been so busy lately. I was worried that you had forgotten about our lunch engagement."

Hilde smiled at her. "I would never forget." She picked up the menu to study the offerings even though she wasn't very hungry.

"I will be glad when this campaign is over," Lina remarked with a sigh. "Werner is putting all his energy into getting Andreas elected."

Hilde would be happy when Andreas was elected for a different reason. Because that made her think of Duo, she decided to have the soup that he had made along with a salad. The decision made, she set aside the menu and was trying to work up the courage to ask Lina if she knew anything about her father's secret life, but she was stunned into silence when the waitress arrived at the table. It was Bridget.

Bridget's smile was friendly when she looked at Lina, but it faltered briefly when her gaze met Hilde's. She recovered quickly. "Welcome to Le Beau Papillon. My name is Bridget and I will be serving you this afternoon. Can I get either of you something to drink? We have some very fine wines available that have been imported from Earth."

"I would like your best chardonnay," said Lina.

Hilde knew that Bridget recognized her which put her nerves on edge. She wanted a glass of something strong, but Lina wouldn't approve so she said, "I'll take the same."

Without looking at Hilde, Bridget moved away.

"The wait staff here is very pleasant," remarked Lina after she had gone. "Fiona has done a remarkable job with the restaurant."

"How long have you known her?" Hilde asked curiously to distract from her unease at having Bridget wait on their table.

Lina shrugged. "I don't know her very well. When she was younger, I believe she worked as a clerk in Werner's law office, but she left to pursue a different career."

Since she brought up the law office, Hilde was about to ask her if she knew anything about her father's personal life, but Bridget returned with their drinks and set them carefully on the table. "Have you decided what you would like? We have a delightful chicken consommé as our soup, and our lunch special is a tasty Cajun chicken sandwich served on a fresh baguette baked in our own ovens this very morning."

"That sounds delicious," commented Lina. "I would like that along with the soup."

"I think I would rather have a salad with the soup," said Hilde, conscious that Bridget was staring at her, not just waiting for her order, but studying her, probably wondering what kind of game she had been playing at the club the night before. Her intense gaze unnerved Hilde.

Bridget took the menus. "I hope you enjoy the wine while you are waiting."

Hilde glanced at the glass the waitress set before her, but she didn't feel like drinking it although Lina sipped hers and declared it wonderful.

"I confess that I am glad you did not invite Ingrid to join us," Lina commented after a moment. "I dread discussing any detail of the wedding with her, but I suppose it can't be avoided."

"As long as we are being honest, I should tell you that Ingrid would be happy not to have any part in planning the wedding." And since there wasn't going to be a wedding, Hilde wanted to put off any more plans. "Andreas will be very busy in the next week or so until the election, so I think we should wait before making any plans without his input. It's not just my wedding; it's his too."

Lina sighed. "I suppose you are right, but men can't be trusted to make proper wedding plans. They just don't understand romance." She squeezed Hilde's hand. "We can at least talk about flowers."

Although she would rather be asking her about Otto Schbeiker, Hilde listened to Lina's suggestions about flowers for her wedding for several minutes and discovered very quickly that she didn't even have to give her any input. Lina had already made up her mind and had even picked out a florist that would be capable of the monumental task of providing the flowers for her wedding. Just hearing Lina explain what would be needed to decorate the Sector 1 Teuton cathedral had her head spinning and she was tempted to order a glass of whiskey regardless of Lina's opinion.

Bridget returned with their soup, and Hilde was relieved that she did not even look at her before leaving. The clear soup she had delivered to their table had an aroma that was mouth-watering, and when she tasted it, she couldn't believe that Duo had cooked it.

"This is quite delicious," said Lina after trying a spoonful. "I heard the restaurant had a new potager after the old one left to start his own restaurant in Sector 7. I worried that anyone could take his place, but Rogelio has proven himself a master at training his staff."

Hilde made a mental note to tell Duo how much she enjoyed the soup he had made when she saw him later. She was just finishing it when Bridget returned with their entrees and Hilde was glad she had just gotten the salad. Her stomach was in knots from imagining what Bridget must be thinking about her and what she was doing at the club in Sector 10 last night lying about her identity. She would be glad when this meal was over so she could get away from the restaurant.

"I am planning to visit my mother tonight," Hilde told Lina who was enjoying her sandwich. That was just a ruse so that it would be easier for her to meet up with Duo. She knew how to sneak out of her childhood home without being detected, and she would take the train to meet him at Dr. Koenig's office.

Lina frowned. "I don't know why you would want to. I've heard that she has taken up with a circus performer. Can you imagine that?"

She stopped herself from remarking that Lina should see Triton Bloom before making such a judgement. "I've given up approving or disapproving of what she does because my mother does not care what I think."

"She was never a good mother," muttered Lina, her words barely audible.

Hilde agreed.

For the duration of the meal, Lina told Hilde about her own wedding to Werner nearly thirty years ago in the same cathedral where Hilde would marry, but as she got carried away with minute details, Hilde thought about her own parents' wedding. Based on the letter she had read, Otto could not possibly love Ingrid because he had given his heart to another woman. Why did he marry Ingrid? What could he have gotten out of the arrangement? They could barely be considered the same class, and Hilde had never seen any affection between them. The date of the letter she had read was almost eight months before her own birth, and now she wondered exactly when her parents had married.

Deep in thought, she didn't realize that Lina had stopped speaking, and when she did, she felt her cheeks flaming. Lina smiled and there was understanding in her eyes. "I'm sure this is all very overwhelming for you. I felt the same way."

"I was thinking about my mother and father," Hilde confessed. "I don't understand why they married."

"Their marriage was convenient." When Lina picked up her wineglass, Hilde noticed that her hand was unsteady.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked with concern.

There was still half a glass left, but Lina drained it and set it aside. "I've been tired lately. This bid to make Werner governor is exhausting. There has been an endless round of luncheons and dinner parties, and I will be so glad when it is over."

Hilde would be glad when the election was over, too. She would end her engagement with Andreas so that she could openly see Duo. He could live with her in her apartment, or better yet, they would find a place together that would be more suitable for children.

Thinking of Mia brought her back to wondering about her father. "Why was it convenient for my parents to marry?" she asked Lina.

Lina shrugged. "They knew each other because Ingrid was Werner's secretary at the law office. Otto and Werner worked together on many projects, which is how he came to know Ingrid." She grimaced. "You know Ingrid. She wasn't any different back then than she is now. I wish Werner hadn't hired that lowbred slut from Sector 5, but men tend to find the skills she excelled at more important than breeding."

Startled by the disgust she heard in Lina's blunt answer, Hilde found herself wishing she had not asked except that Lina had told her more than she had known about her parents. Given what Lina had just told her, her father must have had an affair with Ingrid while he claimed to love another woman and Hilde's opinion of him dropped even further. He was nothing more than a two-faced cad who deserved the awful marriage Ingrid must have forced upon him. She was sure that when she checked the date of her parents' marriage and compared it with her birth, she would find that she was the only reason they were together.

Before she could give in to the temptation to take out her phone and find out exactly when her parents were married – they never celebrated their anniversary - Bridget returned to the table. "I see that you are done eating. Can I interest you in a dessert?"

"No, thank you," said Lina. "The meal was excellent, as usual."

"I'll take your plates and return with the check." Bridget reached for Hilde's plate, but in taking it away, she bumped the still full wineglass which toppled over, the contents spilling over the table and onto Hilde's lap.

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Bridget as she set down the plate and used Hilde's napkin to stem the flow of wine dripping on her pants.

Hilde stood. "Excuse me while I try to wash this off in the restroom." She was already the center of attention, and while several weeks ago this incident would have had her digging in her purse for her medication and probably running to Dr. Koenig for therapy, now she was only slightly annoyed. Seeing her in the restaurant had probably made Bridget nervous although she had done a good job of waiting on their table. She couldn't fault her for an accident.

Once in the restroom, she wet a paper towel and was dabbing at the wine stain on her pants when the door opened, and Bridget walked in carrying cloth towels that she set on the countertop.

Taking one, Hilde said, "Don't worry about my pants. Fortunately, I was drinking white wine."

Suddenly, Bridget grabbed her shoulders and threw her back from the vanity, and Hilde stumbled, nearly falling. But the other woman grabbed her again and shoved her against the wall.

"Do you think I don't recognize you, Mitzi?" demanded Bridget, her eyes narrowed, her face rigid with anger.

Hilde recovered from the shock of her attack and shoved her back. "Why do you care if I was disguised when I was out with a friend? It's the only way I can get any privacy."

"You weren't just out with a friend! I saw you and Duo together, how you dragged him into some dirty, dark corner and forced yourself on him." She swung her hand to slap her, but Hilde caught her wrist in a tight grip to stop her palm from connecting with her cheek.

"What I do is none of your business!" She pushed Bridget back. "And what Duo does is none of your business either."

Bridget rubbed her wrist where Hilde had held her. "He's a good man! He doesn't deserve to be the plaything of some rich Teuton bitch. That's all he'll ever be to you!"

"Duo is free to do what he wants," Hilde retorted, but Bridget's summation of their relationship stung.

"Not if you don't leave him alone!" Bridget glared at her. "Having a man like Andreas Becker isn't enough for you? How do you think he will react if he finds out you're screwing other men on the side?"

Hilde knew exactly how he would respond, and for a moment she panicked, and Bridget must have sensed it because she smiled smugly. "That's what I thought." She shoved Hilde back against the wall again. "Stay away from Duo or Andreas Becker is going to find out exactly what kind of whore he is marrying."

She stepped away just as the door to the restroom opened and Madame Chantal entered. The older woman glanced at Hilde and then looked at Bridget. "You should return to your duties in the dining room, Bridget. I will take care of Ms. Schbeiker."

With one last warning look at Hilde, Bridget smoothed out her skirt and walked out, and when she had gone, Madame Chantal turned her attention to Hilde. "I apologize for that."

Hilde took a towel and after wetting it, she rubbed at her pants again although she had already decided she would toss them out with the trash when she returned to apartment. "It was an accident," she said after a moment.

"I didn't mean what happened at the table. I'm sorry that I wasn't here to prevent Bridget from waiting on you. You must know that she has been on a couple of dates with Duo and based on what she said when we talked yesterday, she has their future mapped out, including how many children they would have. But this morning she was sullen and left before Duo got up. I thought he might have hurt her feelings."

"I was at the club last night," Hilde told the older woman reluctantly. "I was disguising my identity, but she recognized me when she came to the table today. She saw us together last night." Her flaming cheeks made it unnecessary to say any more.

Madame Chantal pursed her lips for a moment and Hilde knew that the other woman had the same opinion of her as Bridget. Maybe they were both right.

"I think you know what you must do," said Madame Chantal gently. "Duo deserves to settle down with a nice girl that doesn't have to sneak around wearing costumes to be with him, and if you care about him at all, you will stop seeing him."

Tired of being told what she should do, Hilde tossed the towel on the table and turned to face her. "Do I need to remind you that who Duo decides to see is none of your business and that if Bridget has aspirations for more than a friendship with him, it is probably your fault for encouraging her because I know that Duo did not."

"You may be right," said the other woman with a resigned sigh. "I just want to protect him like the mother who had to give him up would do if she were here. She wouldn't want him throwing away his life on a woman he can never have."

"You are not his mother," snapped Hilde, irritated that Madame Chantal was making her feel guilty. She pushed past her and returned to the table where Lina seemed relieved to see her. "I am ready to leave."

"Would you like to ride with me?" asked Lina as she stood. "You seem upset, so I thought you might like to talk to someone."

Hilde wondered how Lina would react to her telling her why she was upset. And while she wanted some answers about her father's past, she thought she should sort out her own messed up life.

As they were walking to the door, Hilde noticed Bridget, and turning her head to look at her and their eyes met. The menace in her gaze warned Hilde that unless she wanted Andreas to find out about Duo, she would need to stay away from him. No matter how much it pained her, Hilde would have to tell Duo that they couldn't see each other until after the election.


	27. Chapter 26

**TWENTY-SIX**

"What are you doing here?"

Hilde didn't expect a warmer welcome, but Ingrid's lack of any other greeting annoyed her as much as seeing her in the salon sitting on the sofa draped over Triton Bloom. He looked at her with curiosity but didn't remove his hand from the bare thigh nestled between his legs where he was casually caressing it.

"Is it unreasonable for me to visit my mother?" asked Hilde as she gave Triton a glare that she hoped he read as an order to stop groping her mother in front of her. He ignored her.

"You've already visited me this month," Ingrid said coolly. "And given the amount of time we have spent together in the last few weeks, I was expecting not to see you for several more months. In fact, I was hoping."

That remark hurt more than it should have, but that might be because on the way over to see her mother she had read several of the loving letters her father had written to a son he would never know. He hadn't mentioned Hilde in any of them which didn't surprise her given how little he involved himself in her life. Now to hear her mother's disdain for her, regardless of whether this was the first time or not, she was deeply hurt to realize Otto and Ingrid Schbeiker truly hadn't wanted her and that she meant nothing to either of them.

"I want to talk to you," she said when all she wanted to do was go somewhere to cry.

Before Lina could respond, Triton disentangled himself from her clinging limbs. "I have to return to Sector 3 for a meeting before my performance, so if you'll excuse me, I'll head upstairs for a shower."

Hilde watched him leave and then looked at her mother who was smoothing out the silk robe she was wearing. Because it clung indecently to her, Hilde could see that she was bare beneath it and she was disgusted to imagine what they may have been doing before she arrived.

"I hope you are enjoying yourself," she remarked sarcastically.

"I did just moments before you interrupted us," Ingrid responded with a satisfied smirk.

Hilde thought about pouring herself a drink, but she wanted to be clear-headed when she met Duo at Dr. Koenig's office, and one glass wouldn't be enough to soften this discussion.

"You might as well speak because I would like to join Triton in the shower."

Taking the few letters she was carrying in her purse, she closed the distance between her and Ingrid and dropped them in her lap. Ingrid looked at the pile with annoyance before turning her gaze to Hilde. "What are these?"

"Why don't you look?"

With obvious reluctance, Ingrid picked up a letter and opened it, and Hilde was surprised that she had no reaction to what she read. Ingrid didn't have it open long enough to read the entire letter before she tossed it aside, looked at another, then another. When she was finished, she put the small stack on the table and Hilde snatched them back up to jam in her purse. Part of her wanted to burn them, but the more rational side of her knew that she should keep them in case she ever found her brother. Otto Schbeiker was an unfeeling bastard in her experience, but based on what he wrote, he loved his son and that son might want to read what he wrote since he would never be able to know him any other way.

Ingrid met her gaze. "What do you want me to say? Are you expecting me to feel outraged?"

"He was your husband!" snapped Hilde. "You aren't the least angry?"

"That he had a bastard? You are assuming that I didn't know." Ingrid laughed when Hilde couldn't hide her surprise. "I knew about Otto's little outer sector whore all along, even that she was pregnant when we married."

"How could you marry him when you knew he loved another woman?" Hilde knew when she asked it that her mother lived by a far different code of morality than she did, but she wanted Ingrid to know that she considered her behavior disgraceful.

Ingrid shrugged. "He couldn't have her, and he knew it. She didn't have the right bloodlines and there was no way the Teuton council would allow him to bring in an outsider. Especially not some outer sector tart."

Hilde stared at her incredulously. "Are you saying there is a council that determines our personal lives?"

"Did you expect otherwise? Otto isn't the first Teuton to stray, and he won't be the last. How else do you think they could have gotten so powerful? And they don't share that power with anyone."

Hilde was sure about the answer, but she asked anyway. "Was my marriage to Andreas Becker arranged?"

Ingrid's smile chilled her. "You can ask Werner Richter about that. Don't imagine that I would have chosen that sanctimonious prick to be your husband. I hope he pleases you in bed better than he ever pleased me."

Her stomach felt as if it dropped and Hilde went hot and cold with anger and disgust. "You slept with my fiancé?"

"Slept?" Ingrid laughed. "I should have done that because it would have been a better use of my time with him. I had to teach that inept buffoon everything."

"Are you still ..." Hilde swallowed the bile that rose in her throat as she imagined her mother with Andreas.

Ingrid waved her hand. "Our affair, if you can call it that, has been over for several years. I wanted to meet the man that effectively removed Duo Maxwell from your life, so I invited him over. As we talked, I liked what I saw and realized that I didn't need to answer for my behavior to anyone."

"Your husband couldn't have been dead more than a few weeks," said Hilde furiously.

"Twenty-three days, but who was counting?" Ingrid's smirk told Hilde that her mother was probably happy about Otto Schbeiker's death. "Don't pretend you miss him."

Hilde shook her head and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes to keep from crying tears of humiliation. She wasn't going to marry Andreas, but the thought that she had slept with a man with whom her mother had sex disgusted her. The first chance she got, she was going to confront Andreas and tell him that she had no intention of marrying him. What she had discovered today gave her a reason to end their engagement other than admitting to him that she was in love with another man. She could keep Duo out of the ensuing scandal their break-up would cause. Hilde didn't care if he was elected or not.

When she thought she could talk again, she removed her hands and looked at her mother. "Why didn't you tell me about him before now?"

"What difference does it make whether Andreas and I had sex? The whole affair couldn't have lasted more than a few weeks before we mutually agreed to go our separate ways. Several months later you brought him to meet me, and since you seemed to be content with him, I decided not to ruin your relationship."

Hilde narrowed her gaze and studied her mother. "That can't be the only reason. I won't believe for even a second that you took my feelings into consideration."

"Where did you meet him?" asked Ingrid.

She had met him at a dinner party at Werner and Lina's where she had been living since her father's death a year earlier. Hilde hadn't moved out of their home until she had decided to take her relationship with Andreas to another level and she didn't want to have sex with him in the Richter home.

"I think you are starting to understand."

"I don't know what you are getting at."

Ingrid made a sound of annoyance. "Do you think Werner and Lina can do no wrong? They knew exactly what happened between Andreas and me, but the council decided that Andreas Becker would make the perfect mate for you and Werner was tasked with bringing it about. I'd say he did a wonderful job."

"Who is on that council?" demanded Hilde when she could find her voice. She was having difficulty believing that some clandestine group was controlling her life, and what was worse, Werner and Lina had encouraged her relationship with her mother's discarded lover.

Ingrid shrugged. "I don't know. I imagine the males of the first families. When Andreas marries you, he will be welcomed into their ranks to take the place that has been vacant since your father's death."

"That's never going to happen!" snapped Hilde. "I'm not marrying Andreas Becker."

"They have ways of making you change your mind. Didn't Otto's letters convince you of that? He didn't want to marry me, and I certainly didn't want to marry him, especially when he made it clear that we weren't going to have a sexual relationship." Ingrid sighed mournfully. "In all those years, he never changed his mind which is too bad because he was an attractive man, even at the end."

"Are you going to give me the identity of the woman my father did want, the woman he loved enough to suffer years of marriage to you in order to protect her and their child?"

Ingrid shook her head. "Doing that would cause all manner of problems, and I like my life as it is now. They don't care what I do, and I prefer to keep it that way. You will have to get that answer from someone else."

Hilde might have grabbed her mother by the shoulders to shake the truth out of her, but Triton walked into the salon. "I will be leaving now, Ingrid." He glanced briefly at Hilde before asking, "Do you want me to return later?"

Ingrid left the sofa to go to him and Hilde looked away as she gave him a long, open-mouthed kiss before saying, "Let that be your answer."

"Then I'll see you tonight."

Hilde turned to see him leaving, and not wanting to spend a moment more with Ingrid, she asked, "Would you mind giving me a lift?"

"You have a car," said Ingrid, eyeing her suspiciously. Did she think Hilde had some interest in Triton Bloom? The idea was laughable.

"I don't want to go through the trouble of calling for it." She crossed the room to Triton. "Let's go."

He glanced at Ingrid as if to apologize and then walked out with her.

"We should hurry," Hilde warned him under her breath.

He lengthened his stride and they passed through the door that was opened reluctantly by Cole who glared at Triton as they left. When he had shut the door behind them – it was more of a slam, Triton asked, "Is there a reason we are in a hurry?"

"I'm being watched," she told him. "I need to escape before my driver has a chance to follow."

He opened the passenger door to his sports car for her and moved quickly around to climb in. Hilde turned her head to see that Hans was hurrying from the back entrance of the mansion to the garage, and she looked back to see Triton pulling on leather gloves.

"What are you doing? We have to go!"

"I have a better grip on the wheel with ..."

"Go!" she snapped when she saw that the door to the garage was opening.

Triton started the car and drove carefully down the driveway. "Are you buckled in, Hilde?"

Seeing the front of her town car emerging from the garage, she asked, "Why do I need to be? You're driving like a frightened old lady."

"Quatre Winner rented this car for me, and I don't want to dent it."

Hilde looked at him incredulously. "He rented this car? Why didn't he just buy it?"

Triton shrugged as he input a code to open the gates, and as they were opening, he looked back at her with a frown. "We're not going anywhere until you buckle your safety harness."

Irritated because Hans had maneuvered the car all the way out of the garage and was heading in their direction, she pulled the seatbelt across her and buckled it. She was about to ask if he was satisfied when Triton suddenly accelerated the car and she was thrown back against the seat as the tires squealed and he shot forward. After his speed had leveled off, he pressed a button and a holographic map of the area popped up which showed the streets in blue along with red images of people walking near or across them. He took the turn onto another street so sharply that Hilde was sure she would get whiplash when her body snapped to the side and back.

"Your driver is more skilled than I thought. He's still behind us." Triton turned his head to look at her. "I hope you didn't have a big lunch."

Before she could respond, he spun the steering wheel so that they turned completely around in the road. The action had made her light-headed, but she was aware of the moment they passed Hans driving the town car.

"The road isn't big enough for him to make that turn," predicted Triton. "We should be able to lose him."

Even so, he drove at speeds that Hilde doubted were legal and when she warned him that if he didn't slow down they would be pulled over by the police, he told her that there was a handy gadget installed that would prevent them from detecting his car. "Similar to the technology on the Deathscythe," he told her with a grin. "Say, how are things with Duo Maxwell?"

"I would rather not discuss it."

Triton took another sharp turn that threw her against the door and she would be surprised if she didn't have bruises later. "Your mother suspects that the two of you are getting together."

"You didn't tell her, did you?" she demanded furiously.

"Me? No. Duo's a friend, and your mother is just a diversion."

"Don't talk about my mother." Between learning that Andreas had been one of her lovers and his erratic driving, her stomach was already threatening to heave.

"Fair enough." He took another turn, then sped through a traffic light, narrowly avoiding causing an accident.

"Is it necessary to drive like this now?" asked Hilde with irritation.

"No, but it's fun."

He hadn't asked her where she wanted to go, so she wasn't surprised when the park in Sector 3 came into view and she saw the circus tent. "Hans will make his way here," she told Triton. "You should have dropped me off somewhere."

Pulling to a stop, he hopped out of the car and hurried around to open her door before she even had a chance to unbuckle. "This is the best place you can be if you want to hide from him. Get those heels off. You can't run in them."

She pulled off her shoes and nearly dropped them when he grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the car. Immediately he took off in a run that she had difficulty keeping up with, and when they finally reached the big tent, he pulled her inside and paused only long enough to peek out through the opening.

"He's parking behind my car. We have to hurry."

Triton pulled her along behind the bleachers set up for the performance, and when they reached the far side of the tent, he pulled her through a maze of smaller tents until he reached one into which he pushed her. She thought it might be his tent, but there was another man in it and he looked surprised.

"Phil, I have a favor to ask you."

The other man harrumphed. "My name is not Phil and you know it."

"Alright. O Mighty Philandroo, I have a favor to ask you."

Hilde looked around and realized by the various trunks strewn about and the costume that was hanging from a rope strung the length of the tent, that the mighty Philandroo must be a magician.

"You left off part of my name," groused the man.

"I don't have time. I need you to hide my companion."

The magician raised a monocle to look at Hilde closely. "Why would you want to hide such a pretty thing?"

"Do it!" Triton ducked out of the tent, leaving her alone with the mighty Philandroo.

He tapped his chin with his forefinger for a moment before pulling a long trunk from beneath his cot and opening it. "Step inside, my lady."

Hilde balked until she heard Hans' voice nearby demanding to know where she was. Triton answered that he had left her off at a boutique in Sector 2, but Hans insisted on checking the tent from which he had seen Triton emerge.

The mighty Philandroo didn't need to warn her not to make a sound as she laid down in the coffin-like trunk, and only a few moments after he had secured the lid, she heard footsteps into the tent and Hans' voice.

"Where is she? I am charged with keeping her safe and I demand to know where she is!"

Hilde breathed shallowly so that he wouldn't be able to hear her although her heart was pounding so loud she was surprised it didn't give her away. She could hear Hans moving things around and sensed that he was close by, so she guessed he was looking under the cot.

"I already told you that I left her off to shop in Sector 2," Triton said.

"Open that!"

"You think she's hiding among my things?" Philandroo sounded outraged. "If it will send you on your way sooner, then you can see for yourself."

She heard him open a trunk which was followed by Hans grunting with annoyance before ordering him to open another and then another until Hilde was sure that only the one she hid in remained.

"Open that one!"

"What is going on in here?" demanded a booming voice that she didn't recognize.

"This man is hiding my employer's daughter and I am not leaving without her."

"Is that true O Mighty Philandroo, the greatest illusionist on Earth and the colonies near and far, master of ...?"

"If he is your employee, then order him to turn her over," interrupted Hans furiously.

"I already told him that I dropped her off to shop in Sector 2, but he refuses to believe me."

"I refuse to believe you because I can track her through a device planted in her purse."

Hilde nearly gasped with outrage when Hans revealed how closely she was being spied upon. Telling Andreas and Werner where he drove her to wasn't good enough. They wanted every detail of her movements.

"Maybe she left her purse in my car," suggested Triton, and Hilde was relieved to realize that she had been in such a hurry to get out that she had not taken her purse.

"Open that trunk," ordered Hans, still disbelieving Triton's explanation.

"I use that trunk in my show!"

"Open it," said the man who must be the manager.

She heard him rattling with the lock and suddenly the side of the trunk dropped down. Without considering how ridiculous she would look if she were discovered, she scooted out to hide under the cot and pushed the side back up before he opened the trunk.

"Are you satisfied?" the mighty Philandroo asked.

"She's got to be in here somewhere."

"She's in Sector 2. I'll unlock my car so you can get her purse to return to her."

She could hear Hans complaining as he walked away with Triton. "Why would she leave her purse in your car?"

"She seemed upset," Triton responded. "She's a woman and buying a lot of pretty things will calm her. I'm sure she has good credit all over the colony so not having her purse won't slow her down."

Hilde didn't hear what Hans said in response because they had gotten too far away. The trunk was pulled away and the mighty Philandroo reached down to help her out from under his cot.

"I was worried you weren't going to make your escape," he remarked. "You're a quick thinker and mighty pretty. If you'd like, I could find a place for you in my show."

The other man was tall with dark hair and a thick mustache that curled on the ends. He held out his hand to her. "My name is Franco Marconi, owner and ringmaster of this circus."

She took his hand. "Under the circumstances, I probably shouldn't give you my name."

He raised her hand to his lips and his mustache tickled when he kissed her knuckles before releasing her. "I recognize you from the news, especially that salacious bit that was in the news today."

Hilde shuddered to imagine what he was talking about when she remembered how Andreas had groped her at the coffee shop. She hadn't considered that many reporters already gathered at the hotel for the press conference must have seen and filmed them. She hoped Duo didn't see the video or he might reconsider meeting her at Dr. Koenig's office.

Franco rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I'm having difficulty imagining how you came from that elegant hotel only a few hours ago to outrunning your security to my circus."

"He isn't my security. He's my driver." But considering how well he had kept up with Triton, Hilde wondered what his qualifications had been to get the job.

"Triton will get rid of him for now, but once he looks for you in Sector 2, he will probably be back."

"That's a fact." Triton had ducked into the tent again. "He didn't seem convinced even after I gave him your purse."

"Now I don't have any money to take the train," she grumbled. "I have to meet Duo tonight."

"I can drop you off on the way back to see your mother," Triton told her.

"Do you really have to go back there?" she asked with annoyance.

"Why does it matter to you? We have a good time that isn't hurting anyone. And to be honest, she's not much of a mother to you, Hilde. You were better off claiming you were an orphan like the rest of us."

Hilde dropped down on the cot and rested her chin in her hands. "You are right." And after today, she would wash her hands of Ingrid Schbeiker. She would be glad to never see her again.


	28. Chapter 27

**TWENTY-SEVEN**

Starting his day with a call from Mia meant that Duo could avoid encountering Bridget in the apartment because he took the call in his room instead of at the kitchen table where he usually spoke to her. Mia had a lot to talk about, and Duo treasured every detail of their conversation. With the transport arriving at Earth soon, she wanted him to tell her about the planet again, something he had done many times after he had made the decision to send her there. But he described as much as she could until Dorothy interrupted their conversation to say that they were approaching Earth's atmosphere. After Duo promised Mia that he and Teddy would be looking forward to their call tomorrow so she could tell them all about the landing, Quatre took Mia away to strap in. Dorothy told Duo that they wouldn't be leaving their townhouse in Brussels for a few days so that they could all acclimate to being on Earth, especially Mia who had been born in space and might be bothered by the increased gravity. Duo remembered feeling disoriented for a few days when he first arrived on Earth and he was sorry that he could not be there to help Mia through the transition. Dorothy told him not to worry and that if Mia was not feeling well tomorrow, she would still call with an update.

That morning he had to train with Rogelio who taught him to make the day's soup, and when he was finished with a batch for the lunch crowd, Rogelio complimented him by saying that he never had a potager learn so quickly. He probably wouldn't want to hear that when he was preparing the consommé he was thinking about refurbishing the motherboard of a mobile suit to repurpose it as a maintenance robot. Instead of the delicate work of calibrating circuits, he was clarifying chicken stock to serve as soup du jour. Many of the restaurant's patrons sent their compliments to the kitchen about the soup, and Duo felt some pride in his work, but he perked up more when he heard that one of the ovens was malfunctioning and before anyone could stop him, he was tearing it down to find the problem. By the end of the day he had it fixed and working better than it did before, and he offered to service the rest of the kitchen appliances. Rogelio had looked concerned that Madame Chantal would jump at the chance to have the older equipment updated, but she suggested that he do it after he finished with the work for which he was being paid. Her announcement seemed to have relieved Rogelio greatly, and Duo wondered if he would ever do anything but make soups for the rest of his life.

With the shift over, Duo headed up to the apartment where he took a shower before leaving to meet Hilde at her psychiatrist's office. He would need to hurry, or he might miss the train to Sector 2 and if he had to walk, he wouldn't get there until well after the time they arranged to meet. But upon leaving his room, he nearly barreled into Bridget who was walking down the hall from the room she was using while staying at Madame Chantal's apartment.

Bridget was wearing the same black dress she had worn when he took her to the nightclub, so he politely asked, "Are you going out?" He would be relieved to hear that she had a date.

For a moment she avoided looking at him and then she met his gaze and smiled. "I'm meeting some of the other waitresses at the nightclub. Madame gave us a raise and we are celebrating. Would you like to come with?"

"Sorry. I have other plans." He didn't want to encourage her, not when he loved Hilde.

Although she tried to look nonchalant, Duo sensed she was not happy when she asked, "Are you seeing Mitzi?"

"I just have something that I have to do." He tried to go past her, but she caught his arm.

"I saw you with her last night." By her tone, Duo guessed what she had seen at the club. "And I know who she is."

Duo wanted to yank his arm back and tell her to mind her own business, but he wanted to let her down easy. "I'm sorry, Bridget, if I gave you the wrong idea about us, you and me."

She moved closer to him, and her half-lidded gaze was on his lips. "I didn't get the wrong idea when you kissed me. If your friend hadn't come along when he did, you and I both know what would have happened."

He felt guilty about having to be blunt, but he said, "I would have slept with you because I was drunk and jealous that I saw the woman I love with another man. What would have happened to us wouldn't have meant anything to me, so my friend saved both of us from a lot of regret."

Pressing the length of her body against his, she put her hand on his chest and slid it up until she had it around the back of his neck. "I wouldn't have regretted it, and I can assure you that I would have given you a night that you wouldn't have regretted either. How do you know we wouldn't have shared something special, something that would make you realize that you're wasting your time with a woman you can never have?"

When she tried to bring his head down to hers to kiss him, he resisted, then reached up to drag her hand from his neck. "I'm sorry, Bridget, but I have to play this out with Hilde. Nothing you can say or do will make me change my mind."

"She's not one of us," Bridget reminded him. "And she's going to marry a man from among her own people. You can't possibly imagine that you can ever have more than you do now: sneaking around with her in disguise, screwing in dark corners like rats because that is exactly what you are to them. How would you feel in the future if you discovered that Mia was in such a relationship?"

Duo knew he would be furious.

Bridget huffed. "It's not any different just because you're a man. Hilde Schbeiker is using you for a little dirty fun on the side."

He stepped away from her. "You don't know her."

"Neither do you." Without waiting for his response, she turned on her heel and marched away.

Not wanting to see her any more that night, Duo waited a few moments to be sure that she had gone before he emerged from the hallway and he was chagrined to find Madame Chantal sitting on the sofa. She must have heard their entire conversation, and she was looking at him with her brow raised. He opened his mouth to tell her he was going out, but she patted the empty place on the sofa next to her.

With a resigned sigh, he crossed the room and sat, and he felt awkward when she took his hand and laced their fingers. "I know you don't want to have this talk with me ..."

"What talk?" he asked, wanting to jerk his hand from hers because he knew that she wanted to discourage his relationship with Hilde more than Bridget.

Madame Chantal sighed, squeezed his hand and then released him, probably sensing his unease with their contact. "You already know how I feel, so I won't bother repeating my opinion of your personal life. But I need to warn you that Bridget waited on Hilde Schbeiker today and she spilled wine on her. She followed her to the restroom where I am sure she confronted her."

Duo rubbed his face with his hands. How had he gotten into this situation where two women were fighting over him? The idea was laughable when he certainly wasn't an ideal catch for any woman with his pathetic income, poor prospects for his future because he still had four years left of his probation, not to mention that any relationship with him included Mia. But he knew how this had happened to him. Madame Chantal may have pointed Bridget in his direction with good intentions, but Duo was responsible for not setting Bridget straight to begin with.

He looked at the older woman. "I think the best thing for me to do is to move out. Tomorrow I'll start looking for a place for me and Mia."

Madame Chantal looked crestfallen and he saw her eyes glistening as if she would cry. But she said, "If you think you should, I will help you any way you need."

"I can handle it," Duo told her, rising to his feet. "I need to meet Hilde. I'm helping her with something tonight."

He could see by the look on Madame Chantal's face that she disapproved, but she did not try to dissuade him. "Be careful, Duo. I hope you don't mind if I look through the rental listings while you are out."

Duo was about to tell her that he could do that on his own, but he decided that helping him move might make her feel better about the separation. She had been kind to him since he left prison, and they had grown closer since he moved in with her. He would miss sharing a drink with her in the evening after work before they went to bed. There was little doubt that he had become the surrogate for the child she had lost, and he didn't mind because she had become the surrogate for the mother who had given him up.

"I'd appreciate that," he told her. "If you find any that look promising, you can make arrangements for me to look at them tomorrow."

"So soon," she murmured.

Putting his hand on her shoulder, Duo smiled down at her. "I'll try to stay close by. I know how much you care about Mia, and she adores you too."

That made her smile as she put her hand over Duo's. "You be careful tonight, Duo."

He withdrew his hand and headed to the door, but before he left, he reached into his pocket for the ring Heero had given him to slip on his finger. Now his location was pinned to the restaurant where he normally spent his nights, and the only way anyone would know that he wasn't were he was supposed to be was if the authorities took the trouble to question people who might see him. There were far too many convicts on the colony for them to waste resources investigating any individual.

Keeping to himself and staying in the shadows, Duo made it in time to catch the train to the sector where he would meet with Hilde. Few people were traveling at this time of the night, and none of the half dozen men and women paid him any attention. The trip was short, and after stepping off the train, he waited until it pulled away before he looked around to get his bearings.

He moved further down the street to an area that was darkened from an overhanging building roof where he intended to cross to head in the direction to the doctor's office, but he was prevented when a sports car pulled up and stopped in front of him. Both the passenger door and the driver's side door opened, and he saw Triton Bloom step out of the driver's side and hurry around the front of the car to help the passenger out. Seeing him touching Hilde was beyond annoying to Duo, especially when Hilde tried to brush him off.

Releasing her, Triton waved to Duo with a smile which he did not return. "What are you doing here?" he asked sharply.

Triton shrugged. "I gave Hilde a ride."

"I told him to drop me off," Hilde said with an irritated glance at the other man.

"I thought you guys might want a little help," Triton explained, still smiling as if he knew that his presence was not wanted or needed. "I sent Ingrid a message telling her I would be a little late. She won't mind."

Duo winced. "I met that woman once. I don't know how you can ..."

"I don't want you two discussing my mother," interrupted Hilde. "Dr. Koenig's office is two blocks in this direction. Let's get this over with."

Duo fell in step beside Hilde while Triton followed behind them. He didn't say anything for a few moments as they covered the distance between the station and the doctor's office, but when they were near the building that looked more like a quaint cottage with a flower garden on the side and flanked by trees, Triton asked, "Would either of you care to explain what we are doing?"

"Nobody invited you," Duo reminded him. "So, no. You can make yourself useful by staying outside and warning us if anyone comes by while Hilde and I check this place out."

Triton didn't ask any more questions as they paused across the street from the office building, and Duo warned them both to wait in the shadows while he checked for security cameras. He didn't find any which didn't surprise him because he couldn't think of a reason that a psychiatrist would have to worry about a break-in. There was, however, a sophisticated lock that Duo had to work on for several minutes before he finally opened the back door. Stepping out from behind the building, he motioned for Hilde, who hurried across the street to join him in the shadows. Triton gave him a wave from his hiding place before he disappeared into the darkness.

"Wait out here until I come back to get you. Your doctor doesn't seem too concerned about security, but he might have some surprises inside." Without waiting for a response, he slipped into the building, and the first thing he did was disable the lights so that anyone in neighboring buildings wouldn't call the police because lights were turning on and off as they went through the rooms. It was easy enough to turn off the system that controlled the room sensors, and when he was sure that they wouldn't be detected, he went back out to get Hilde.

Once they were inside, he asked, "How did you end up with him?"

"Him? You mean Triton?" In the dim light filtering in from the street lights, he saw her grimace. "I visited my mother and he was with her. He was very helpful in getting me away from my driver." She looked at Duo suspiciously. "You had better not be jealous. In the first place, your girlfriend ruined my pants at the restaurant and all but assaulted me in the restroom, and in the second place, I wouldn't be interested in a man who is having a sexual relationship with my mother."

"Sorry," he muttered, feeling silly that he was jealous of Triton.

"About which one?" she asked. "Your crazy girlfriend's behavior or Triton's?"

"I don't have any control over either of them, but I am sorry that I didn't make it clear to Bridget that I am not interested in pursuing a relationship with her."

"I'm not sure that she is the one you need to convince," said Hilde sourly. "Madame Chantal and I had a little talk after my encounter in the restroom with Bridget, and she made her position very clear. She would rather we not see each other." She turned to face him. "Do you agree with her? She doesn't believe we can ever be together."

Duo put his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her closer to him. "We're together now." Dipping his head, he touched his lips to hers, and she moved against him as she put her arms up around him. There wasn't anything he wanted to do more than keep kissing her, except maybe to maneuver her to the couch he saw in the doctor's office. But they didn't come here to do that, so he reluctantly broke the kiss and stepped back.

"Where do you think he keeps his records?"

"He has a computer on the desk in his office," she told him.

"From what I have seen, he doesn't strike me as being very secretive. His files are probably on the computer, and due to the nature of his practice, he doesn't upload them to the colony server. It's too easily hacked and I'm sure he has some clients that don't want their discussions to become public knowledge."

"You haven't hacked the server, have you?" she asked suspiciously as they moved through the back room to the office.

Duo wondered if she could ever completely trust him. Given his background and the skills he had learned on the streets, she had reason not to, but it hurt that she didn't believe he could rise above his past. "No, but I know people who have. There are more secure private networks running on the colony." Which reminded him that he would have to pay Heero a visit to get Fitz McElroy's card back. He was eager to find out what Heero's tech guys found out and wished that he had the time to trace the money trail himself.

There was password protection on the doctor's computer, but Duo didn't need to be an expert to figure out the password when it was taped on the edge of the computer screen. The computer files were disorganized with folders all over the screen, many on top of others, so Duo did a search of Hilde's name, and when there were no results, he glanced over his shoulder where Hilde was hovering. "It doesn't look as though he kept a record of your sessions."

"I don't remember much about our sessions because he usually started out by injecting me with something to make me relax. But I do know that he began by turning on a recorder that he set on the table nearby." She leaned into him as she looked intently at the screen, and after a moment she reached over and pointed to a folder that was labeled 'Richter'. "Open that one."

Duo opened the folder and hundreds of text and audio files displayed on the screen, none of them labeled except for dates that went back at least six years. "I guess that's it."

Before he could do anything, Triton appeared from the dark. "A couple of cars just pulled up, and there are two men headed this way."

"Go with Triton," Duo told Hilde. "I'll upload the files to the Preventer server."

"I want to stay," she insisted.

"You're safer waiting with Triton. I'll be out as soon as I can."

She looked as though she might argue, but Triton grabbed her arm and pulled her away with him. Duo didn't have enough time to connect with the server before he heard the front door opening, so he quickly shut off the computer and managed to hide in a closet before he heard the footsteps into the room.

"Strange," he heard a man mumble. "My office manager must have forgotten to enable the security system before leaving for the day."

There was no response, but the footsteps Duo heard indicated that there was more than one person with the doctor. He had left the door open a crack and was glad that the closet had a view of the desk at which a man wearing an expensively tailored suit appeared, and while he couldn't see his companion's face, Duo saw that he had come to stand nearby.

"My employer wants the files and an assurance that you will never speak of what they contained, Dr. Koenig."

Dr. Koenig sat on his chair, but he didn't make a move to turn on his computer. Instead, he rocked back and looked up at the other man with a sardonic smile. "Your employer can have all of it, including my silence, but that is going to cost a lot more than what he originally contracted."

There was a moment of silence before the other man said, "How much are you asking?"

"I think something of this nature is at least worth five million credits."

Duo blinked at the exorbitant amount. Hilde's doctor didn't sell his clients' most private information cheaply. Given the names he had seen on the folders of Dr. Koenig's computer, Duo could only think of one man who could afford to toss around that kind of money as if it were chump change.

"I cannot authorize such a transaction."

"Then I will wait until you contact Richter, because until you do, you are not getting any assurances from me. Ms. Schbeiker might be willing and able to pay even more to get the truth of why she was seeing me. Either way, I'm getting off this colony and spending the rest of my days on Earth treating neurotic, bored rich women."

Even though he didn't have a chance to find out what Koenig had been doing to Hilde, Duo could recognize when a man overplayed his hand. He watched as the other man slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket, but instead of pulling out a phone to call his employer, he had a gun in his hand. The doctor's eyes widened, and he tried to get out of the chair, but the other man shoved him back down, forced the gun into his hand and put the barrel under his chin before pulling the trigger. The only sound came from Dr. Koenig's skull and brains hitting the wall, and Duo shuddered to see what little was left of his head.

Ignoring the carnage he had somehow managed to avoid getting on his clothing, the other man released Koenig's hand before he turned his attention to the computer. He looked at it for a moment as if contemplating what he should do before he left Duo's line of sight, and Duo listened intently for the sound of him leaving the building. But he returned, and Duo watched him put a bottle of alcohol on the desk along with a glass. He filled the glass and took a drink before he poured the remainder over the computer, then took the bottle and emptied it over Koenig. He then took a cigar and lighter from his pocket, and he lit the cigar to smoke for a moment before he tossed it on the corpse. The alcohol ignited, and the flame raced along the body to the computer, and as the other man stepped back casually to watch the fire spread, Duo started to worry that he wouldn't be able to escape before the killer left. Once the fire leapt from the desk to curtains on a nearby window, the other man finally turned on his heel and walked calmly from the room.

By the time he was sure the killer was gone, the fire had reached the ceiling to fall onto the couch which burst into flame. Duo stumbled from the closet to find that the air was clogged with smoke, and he wanted to get out as soon as possible, but he paused just long enough to enable the security system so that the fire alarms began to blare.

Emerging from the back door, he fell to his knees and had to cough out smoke and soot before he could gulp in fresh air. As he was heaving to catch his breath, he could hear the sirens of a fire truck just as his arm was grabbed.

"Let's get out of here!" Triton was dragging him to his feet.

"Where is Hilde?" asked Duo between coughing fits.

"She's waiting at the car."

Relieved that she was safe, Duo didn't complain as Triton helped him, and by the time they reached the car, he had recovered his breath. He was surprised that Hilde had stayed at the car given her habit of behaving recklessly, and when he reached her, she had pulled open the passenger side door. There wasn't a back seat to the expensive sports car, so after Duo settled into the car, she sat on his lap and pulled the door shut just as Triton put the car in gear and drove slowly away.

Duo turned his head to look at him. "You don't think you should drive a little faster?"

Triton didn't take his eyes from the road. "You don't think a car speeding away from the scene of an arson fire is going to go unnoticed?"

Hilde threw her arms around Duo. "When I saw the fire, I was afraid something had happened to you!" She didn't give him a chance to respond before she was kissing him.

"You might want to let him breathe," remarked Triton wryly. "And I'd like him to tell him what happened back there."

"Dr. Koenig pissed off the wrong person," Duo told them when Hilde stopped kissing him to put her head on his shoulder. "Take us to the hotel. I can't go back to the restaurant looking like this. Heero might have something I can wear." What he really wanted to do was tell Heero what he had overheard, and he didn't want Hilde to find out now that Werner Richter might possibly be behind the doctor's murder. Duo had never met him, but he knew that she considered Richter more her father than Otto Schbeiker. The mystery man who had killed Dr. Koenig had not spoken directly with Richter before acting, but that didn't mean they hadn't already discussed the possible outcomes of Richter's business with the psychiatrist.

"Is that all you are going to say?" asked Hilde suspiciously.

When he didn't respond, she stiffened and sat up. They continued the trip in silence and Duo would have liked to cuddle Hilde on his lap, but she sat rigidly which told him that she was angry that he wouldn't talk to her. Triton didn't speak either, and when he parked the car on a side street near the hotel, he took out his phone to call Heero who told him he would meet them around the back. By the time they reached the back door, Heero was waiting for them, but he didn't ask any questions as he escorted them to the service elevator and to Relena's suite.

She was sitting on the sofa studying a tablet when they entered, and when she saw Duo, she hurried away and returned with a towel and wet cloth. "Triton said something about a fire. It looks as though you got a little close."

Duo took the towel and headed to the bathroom where he saw in a mirror that his face was blackened with soot. As he was cleaning up, Heero stopped in with a clean shirt and pants, taking his to dispose of. The clothing was close enough to his size and he was grateful to not have to explain to Madame Chantal why his clothing had patches where it was burned.

When he came out, Relena pressed a drink into his hand and he joined everyone in the living area where he sat next to Hilde on the couch. After he took a drink, Heero said, "I don't suppose you know anything about the fire my men reported in Sector 2."

"I know more than I want to know," Duo told him. He took another swallow of the smooth brandy Relena had given him before looking at Hilde. "Dr. Koenig is dead. We weren't the only ones trying to get information about his treatment, but we weren't planning to kill anyone for it."

She blinked in surprise. "Dr. Koenig was murdered?"

Duo looked at Heero. "The authorities will probably report that it looked like Dr. Koenig killed himself, but I saw another man help him blow his brains out."

Hilde gasped, and he turned to see that she was pale and trembling. "That is how my father killed himself!"

Heero glanced at her and then looked back at Duo. "Did you see who killed him?"

Hilde was watching him intently, waiting for his answer, so he was sorry to disappoint her. "I didn't see his face, but I heard his voice. I didn't recognize it, but I probably would if I heard it again."

"Were you able to upload my files?" asked Hilde.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hilde. There wasn't enough time. Unless the Preventers can find something he might have uploaded to the colony servers, your files are lost."

She looked crestfallen and he wished he could tell her not to worry, but given what had happened at Koenig's office, she had good reason to be upset.

"Did you get any clue who might have wanted him dead?" asked Heero.

Duo studiously ignored Hilde because he intended to wait until she was gone before he discussed what he had heard with Heero. "They seemed to know each other," he told him instead.

"Perhaps it was one of his other patients," remarked Triton. "Psychiatrists hear a lot of secrets."

"Don't you think it's a coincidence that Dr. Koenig is murdered on the night I try to find out how he was treating me?" asked Hilde with a frown.

"How would he know you would be there?" asked Heero with a shake of his head. "In this case, it is a coincidence."

"It's late," Hilde said as she stood. "I need to leave."

Duo stood with her and enfolded her in his embrace. "I'm sorry this night has been a disappointment."

She stretched to kiss his lips. "I'm just glad that you weren't hurt."

Although he was reluctant to release her, he let her go when she stepped back and pulled out her phone. "Are you calling your driver?"

"I don't want him any angrier than he probably is already for outrunning him today with Triton."

"I can give you a ride," suggested Triton who ignored the frown Duo sent his way.

"Hans will be here in a few minutes. I'll meet him out front." She looked at Relena. "You don't mind saying I was with you this evening, do you?"

Relena smiled at her. "We had a great time together."

"I'll walk you down," offered Triton before Duo could. The other man headed to the door where he waited for her, so he had no choice but to give her a chaste goodbye kiss and was bothered that she looked distracted.

After she had gone, Relena remarked, "You don't have to be an expert to figure out that you were hiding something from her."

Duo dropped down on the sofa and looked at Heero. "I heard the killer mention Richter."

"Richter again?" Relena seemed exasperated, so Duo raised his brow in question to Heero.

Heero withdrew something from his pocket and when he dropped it on the table in front of Duo, he said, "It wasn't easy, but one of the tech experts at the Preventer office managed to trace the account this card is tied to."

"And Richter has something to do with it?" Duo wasn't surprised that the powerful Teuton might be behind the extortion wrought all over the colony.

"The account is held by a phony corporation that has, as its biggest shareholder, Werner Richter."

"I sent a message to the president asking that the Preventers open an official investigation," said Relena. "But I have yet to hear back, so I am assuming my communications have been monitored since my arrival and that particular message or the reply has been blocked."

"Are you worried about your safety?" Duo asked her.

"I have assigned additional agents to her security detail," Heero responded. "A man like Werner Richter has garnered a lot of power and he won't go down easily."

"His election to governor was the first stepping stone on his way to running for president, and with the wealth he has backing him, he might have succeeded in being elected," pointed out Relena. "Hearing what he has done to this colony makes me shudder to imagine what he might have done to the entire Earth Sphere United Nation."

The door buzzed and Heero left them to admit Triton back into the room. "Her driver must have been close because he was already waiting for her."

"That was quick," said Relena with raised brows.

"I thought so too, and since he was tracking her with some device he had planted in her purse, I went to my car to see if he left it behind when he took the purse." He reached into his pocket and dropped a button-sized device on the low table. "It was under the passenger seat. I guess Hans wasn't taking any more chances in losing her."

Heero picked up the device to examine and then asked, "Did you take her to Dr. Koenig's office this evening?"

Triton nodded. "That is where she asked to go, and when Duo was late, I drove her to the train station to meet him."

"Then it wasn't a coincidence that Dr. Koenig was murdered, and his office torched tonight," commented Relena.

"Hans must have reported her whereabouts to Richter." Heero looked at Duo who was still getting over the surprise that her driver was tracking her movements. "Would you recognize him if you heard him?"

He nodded. "I've encountered him a time or two. The man that killed Koenig wasn't her driver."

"We will assume that he called Richter who sent someone who is not squeamish about doing his dirty work," said Heero.

"Should I be worried about Hilde?" asked Duo. If necessary, he would protect her himself no matter the consequences.

"She introduced the Richters to me at the gala," Relena told him. "Werner Richter and his wife doted on Hilde, so I doubt she is in any danger from him."

"Keep me in the loop," Duo told Heero as he took the card from the table and put it in his pants pocket. "I'll head over to Sector 10 tomorrow to return this. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help Hilde get some answers."

"Based on what happened tonight," said Heero with a frown, "there is a strong possibility that her father's death wasn't a suicide and that she may have seen something that Dr. Koenig was 'helping' her to forget."

"Do you think she will ever remember on her own?" If she had seen what he had that night except with her father as the victim, Duo wouldn't want her to remember.

"I don't doubt that intensive therapy might help," said Relena. "By the look on her face, she might have already made the connection between Dr. Koenig's death and her father's. I just hope she asks for help before trying to confront a killer on her own."


	29. Chapter 28

**TWENTY-EIGHT**

When Hilde returned to her apartment, it was well after two in the morning. Hans hadn't said anything when he met her at the hotel, and while she wondered how he was able to respond quickly to her call, she didn't ask because his manner was abrupt before he slammed the doors to the car, both hers and his. Before today, Hilde had a cordial, if not friendly, relationship with Hans, but now she felt as if they were adversaries. He was spying on her and now she knew the depths he would go to do it. When he handed over the purse he had retrieved from Triton Bloom's car, she didn't thank him, and on the way back to her apartment, she searched it thoroughly for the tracking device. Not finding it, she knew he must have disposed of it now that he had revealed it.

Tired, she headed straight to bed, but once she was lying in the dark, she had a hard time falling asleep after everything that had happened that day. When she finally drifted off, it seemed as if she had only slept for a few minutes when a nightmare woke her. She had seen Duo trapped in Dr. Koenig's office, flames consuming him and there was no way she and Triton could break in to help him escape. As she lay in her bed gasping for breath, her heart beating rapidly, Hilde wiped tears from her cheeks and calmed herself with the knowledge that she had left Duo safe in Relena's hotel room.

Unfortunately, that reminded her that she had been upset with Duo when she left him because she sensed he was not being truthful when he told Heero what happened at Dr. Koenig's office. She knew him too well for him to keep something from her without her realizing it. Lying in bed awake, unable to get back to sleep, she replayed what had happened at Dr. Koenig's office and what Duo told Heero when she was there. Hilde was certain that after she had left, they discussed it in depth, and she was hurt that Duo kept the truth from her.

Duo's behavior wasn't any different from her father's, and since she couldn't sleep anyway, she left her bed to get the letters she had not read. One after another she read her father's thoughts for the son he would never know, that he did not dare look for because he feared for his safety. Even though he never knew his son, could not know how he had turned out, Otto Schbeiker cared more about him than he did for her. By the time the sun had risen, Hilde no longer felt that she had a right to consider Otto Schbeiker her father. While ignoring her, he wrote about all the things he would do with the son he never knew, things he never did with her. While he was imagining taking his son to the park, to the library, even to Earth, Hilde was doing those very things with Werner and Lina, never with him.

Morning soon came without her going back to sleep, but Hilde had time to decide that she wanted the answers that Ingrid didn't give her about her father. After sending a message to Hans to pick her up outside her apartment building in half an hour, she took a quick shower before dressing and going down to meet him. He did not look directly at her when she told him where to take her, probably because he was still angry that she had left with Triton Bloom, thereby making him look bad at keeping track of her to whoever was behind his spying. Confronting him wouldn't be worth the effort because she was sure he would lie about who wanted to know where she was going and who she was seeing. She was already sure it was Andreas, and when he came to her apartment that evening, he was going to be very disappointed that he would not be getting the romantic evening he expected.

When the car stopped in front of the Werner residence, Hilde got out without waiting for Hans who didn't hurry to assist her anyway. She went to the door which opened before she had a chance to use the knocker and the butler informed her that Lina had just left to go shopping in Sector 2, but Werner was in the garden finishing his breakfast. As she followed the butler to the garden, she wished she had saved one or two of Dr. Koenig's pills for times like this. She was angry, and unhappy and nervous about asking Werner about her father, but he had been Otto's friend, so he had to know about her half-brother.

Sitting at the small table with a cup in one hand and a tablet in the other as he read the morning news, Werner didn't notice her for a moment and Hilde had a chance to study him. In his early fifties, he had black hair that was graying at the temples, and while there were crow's feet at the corner of his eyes and laugh lines around his mouth, he was still a handsome man. Hilde couldn't remember a time when she didn't adore him, probably because he was always there for her. Where Otto was cold and unfeeling towards her, Werner had been warm and comforting. When she ran away to join the army, she had been more worried about Werner's reaction than her father's, so she hadn't told him. She had expected Otto to do it, and that he didn't made her wonder if he had been hoping she would never return. Despite what Duo had told her, she could not believe that Otto had been proud of that decision. He was probably happy to retreat into the fantasy world he had created in his letters for the beloved son he never knew.

Werner finally looked up from his tablet, and Hilde was relieved by the welcome she saw sparkling in his pale blue eyes. He set aside his cup and tablet before coming to greet her with a hug, and as she clung to him, resting her head against his chest so she could hear the beating of his heart, she relaxed and was glad that she had come to see him.

"See that breakfast is brought for Hilde," Werner told the butler over her head. If he was wondering why she didn't release him, he didn't ask as he held her. Hilde needed to collect her thoughts and reign in her feelings, and as he held her close, he stroked her hair and she felt like the little girl who could count on him to soothe her aches. Then it might have been a scraped knee, but now it was a broken heart.

After a moment, she stirred to move away from him and he released her to pull out the chair at his right hand for her to sit. A maid arrived with a tray, and they did not speak until she had served breakfast to Hilde and left. The staff knew exactly what she preferred to eat for breakfast, and while the meal looked appetizing, after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, she didn't feel hungry. Werner poured her a cup of coffee, and the aroma was impossible to resist. After her sleepless night, she needed something to wake her, and for several moments they sipped coffee in companionable silence.

Finally, Werner spoke, and she was glad because she didn't know how to bring up what she really wanted to know. "You must have seen the news about Dr. Koenig. Such a senseless, tragic accident."

Hilde hadn't looked at the news to find out how his death was reported. "I only saw that he died in a fire."

"According to the news reports, he passed out drunk and spilled his drink over his computer, starting a fire which did not wake him." Werner released a long sigh as Hilde wondered who had released that load of lies for the public. "I knew about his problems with alcohol, but he assured me that he had it under control or I wouldn't have allowed him to continue treating you. Now I understand why you haven't been seeing him. He didn't do something to you that I should know about, did he?"

The thought that Dr. Koenig might have taken advantage of her sickened Hilde, but she dismissed it because the psychiatrist would not have dared given her close relationship to Werner Richter. "No. He was professional during my sessions with him. However, I was concerned that he was prescribing me medication that was too strong."

Werner nodded. "I sensed that you weren't taking it after the unfortunate incident at the hotel."

"I felt better without it," she confessed. Hilde wouldn't tell him what Heero Yuy had discovered about the pills he had swiped from her to have tested. What was the point now that Koenig was dead?

"You have been looking more like yourself," he said as he reached over to put his hand over hers. "I know you must be understandably upset about Dr. Koenig's death, but I think something else is bothering you."

What wasn't bothering her? The man she loved was lying to her, she had discovered that her fiancé had been her mother's lover, and her father had reserved all his affection for a son he couldn't even be sure was alive.

Werner gave her a pained smile. "I suppose the wedding planning is more than a little overwhelming. In preparing for our wedding, Lina was treated for exhaustion, and knowing her, she has you caught up in the whirlwind. Today she is consulting with a florist."

Hilde wasn't ready to tell Werner that she wasn't going through with marrying Andreas. The least she could do is tell Andreas first although he really didn't deserve the courtesy after she discovered his affair with her mother. Had she known about it, she never would have dated him.

"I asked her to wait until after the election to start planning the wedding," Hilde told Werner, feeling guilty that she wasn't being honest with him.

He nodded. "We discussed your wishes, and I agree with you, but Lina wants to get a head start." He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Lina will do whatever Lina wants and today she wants to look at wedding bouquets."

Hilde sipped her coffee and then remarked, "My mother should be involved in the planning." The last thing she wanted was to spend any more time with Ingrid, especially after what she had learned about her and Andreas, but she thought she should say the obvious.

Werner snorted. "Ingrid could never plan such an event, so you are fortunate that Lina wants to do it."

"My mother told me that she didn't have a traditional wedding to my father."

"That is true," he said with a half-smile. "Otto refused to participate in such a wedding and would only consent to obtaining a marriage license and making his vows at the government office. Lina and I served as witnesses."

"Did he want it that way because my mother was already pregnant with me?" she dared to ask.

Werner reached out to grasp her hand. "Don't ever imagine that you were not wanted or loved."

"My mother has made it very clear that she doesn't care about me."

"But you should never doubt the love of your father." His gaze was intense as it met hers. "He just wasn't able to express it as openly as you would have liked."

After all that she had read that morning, she didn't doubt that Otto Schbeiker felt no more affection for her than Ingrid. Reluctantly taking back her hand from him, she took her purse and reached in to get the packet of letters that had so upset her.

"An attorney friend of mine suggested that I should have a pre-nuptial agreement with Andreas so that I don't lose my assets should our marriage not work out," she began.

Werner huffed. "That is completely unnecessary! There won't be a divorce. Your lawyer could not be Teuton or he would know that."

Hilde was taken aback. True, she could not think of any couples in their community that had divorced, but she couldn't believe it wasn't an option. "How can you be sure? What if we grow apart? What if he falls in love with another woman and wants to spend his life with her?"

"He would not dare," Werner interrupted her, and she was stunned by the vehemence in his voice.

"What about me? How can you guarantee that I will still want to spend my life with him?"

"Are you having second thoughts about marrying him, Hilde?" His brows drew together. "I know that you have not been spending much time with Andreas since your engagement. Is there someone else?"

Hilde couldn't bring herself to answer when it would force her to lie.

Werner looked troubled. "I am aware that you represented Duo Maxwell in some recent trouble." He was looking at her intently. "And Andreas told me that you have been spending a lot of time in Sector 3 where Duo Maxwell works at Le Beau Papillon."

She lowered her gaze to keep him from seeing that she was angry that Andreas was even reporting on her whereabouts to Werner. "Relena Darlian is my friend. I have been spending time with her." At least that wasn't a lie although she was spending more time with Duo Maxwell.

Werner didn't respond for a moment and then he said, "I wasn't aware that you knew her so well."

"We met during the war, and we renewed our acquaintance when she came to Lina's garden party." She smiled wryly. "We have a lot in common." They were both in love with gundam pilots that couldn't commit to them.

"I am glad she is your friend, and not just because your friendship with her can help Andreas. You have been so busy with school and work these last few years that I worried you didn't have a chance to have fun."

"Law school took up a lot of my time," she admitted. Hilde had made some friends in her study groups, but not the kind of friends she would go shopping for lingerie with. She hadn't thought Relena was that kind of friend either until she suggested they step into the risqué shop during their outing.

"Andreas needs to spend more time with you. I will remind him that putting his ring on your finger doesn't excuse him from any further obligations in your relationship."

"You don't need to." Hilde forced a smile to her lips. "We are spending the evening together tonight."

"I am glad to hear it." Werner glanced at the papers in her hands. "What do you have there?"

She clutched them nervously. "As I was saying, a friend offered to draw up a pre-nuptial agreement and I accepted. In doing so, he investigated my finances and discovered that my father only left me a modest portion of his wealth." She looked at his face. "Were you aware that my father had an illegitimate child?"

There was no indication that he was shocked by her revelation. "I suppose Ingrid told you."

"She did not. My lawyer informed me that my father left the bulk of his estate to his illegitimate son and that he only made provisions for me and my mother to have a comfortable future." Hilde didn't care about the money because she was capable of earning her own. But she did care that Otto Schbeiker reserved all his affection for a son he never laid eyes on when he ignored her even though she lived in his home.

"I'm sorry you found out about his sordid affair."

"Sordid affair? If he was married to my mother when it happened, I would call it a sordid affair, but he wasn't. In fact, the only sordid affair that must have occurred was with my mother because by my calculations, his son was almost a year old when I was born."

"Otto was a womanizer," Werner told her with an apologetic grimace. "I warned him of the consequences of not taking proper precautions, but he was an arrogant bastard."

"I thought you were friends." She was surprised to hear him talk about Otto like he did now.

"We were, but I wasn't blind to his faults, not the least of which was how he treated women. When Ingrid revealed that she was pregnant, he knew he had to marry her even though he already had his eye on one of the new young lawyers in the office. Marrying Ingrid and giving you his name was the most responsible thing he had ever done. I'm sorry that he seemed to resent you for it. When we realized how he felt, Lina and I were determined to give you all the love that we couldn't give to a child of our own."

Tears sprang to her eyes, and when they spilled over her lashes and down her cheeks, Werner left his chair and dropped to his knees beside her so that he could gather her into his arms. Hilde released the emotions that she had pent up over the years, especially the resentment towards her father when she secretly wanted him to acknowledge and love her. Knowing now that Otto Schbeiker hadn't wanted her, that he could never have loved her, she sobbed against Werner's chest as he held her close. When she collapsed against him exhausted, he picked her up, and she didn't protest as he carried her through the house to her room where he laid her on the bed

After covering her with a blanket, he kissed her temple. "I can tell that you need rest, Hilde. I will be downstairs when you want to talk again."

She wanted to ask him about her father, particularly about the woman he wanted more than her mother, but she was too drained to do anything but give in to exhaustion and sleep. Fortunately, she was not bothered by any nightmare or dreams and she slept most of the day. When she awoke, she didn't feel disoriented because her room at the Richter home was more familiar to her than the one she had slept in at the Schbeiker mansion.

Glancing at the clock at her bedside, she saw that it was late afternoon and she knew she should return to her apartment so that she was there when Andreas arrived. She left the bed and went to the bathroom first to freshen up by splashing her face with water and applying some makeup before leaving the room. She had left her purse at the table, so she didn't have access to her phone to call Hans, but when she went into the garden, she found that the table had been cleared and her purse was gone. Because Werner told her that he would be at the house, she went to his office, but she paused outside when she heard voices and she realized that Lina had returned and was speaking to him.

"I told you that he couldn't be trusted. Where did she get these letters?"

"I don't know. She brought them with her, but we didn't have a chance to discuss them. I found them on the table after I took her to her room." She heard Werner sigh deeply. "After reading them, I understand why she was so emotional today. Even I didn't realize Otto felt this way."

Lina made a sound of disgust. "Don't feel any sympathy for him! He got what he deserved. As for the letters, burn them!" Hilde couldn't believe the harsh voice was Lina's and she was reminded of how she had spoken to Ingrid at the bridal shop.

"There is nothing in these letters but Otto's ramblings." Werner told Lina gently.

"You were always on his side! I'm not surprised you are excusing Otto even now!"

"Otto was a good friend. After what I did ..."

"Don't bring that up! We agreed never to speak of it again."

"I only wanted to remind you that he did everything you asked of him. I cannot blame him for wanting to express his feelings. Otto never expected anyone to read his letters, least of all Hilde."

Before Lina could reply, Hilde pushed open the door and walked in. "What did you ask of my father?" she demanded, fearing that they were the people who had threatened the safety of a woman and child. She saw that the letters were lying open on Werner's desk and that Lina was still holding one.

Werner rose from his chair and went around his desk. "You look much better after some rest."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Hilde with a frown, stepping around him to the desk where she collected the papers and then held out her hand to Lina who hesitated before giving her the one she had been reading.

Lina and Werner exchanged glances before Werner said, "I told you earlier, Hilde, that I insisted he marry Ingrid."

She held up the letters in her hand. "What about this woman?"

Lina made a sound of disgust. "She was not suitable to be his wife and he knew it."

Hilde had heard that argument before, but according to her father's letters, he never stopped loving the other woman. What did this bode for her future with Duo Maxwell? She refused to be forced into a marriage with Andreas because it was demanded by a faceless council of Teutons whose only desire was to maintain the purity of bloodlines.

"Who was she? I want to know her name."

"For what reason?" asked Werner gently. "Do you think she can give you any insight into Otto's feelings any more than those letters? By now she is a bitter woman. She was rejected by the man she loved, and she lost her child."

"Lost her child?" Hilde stared at him incredulously. "How do you know what happened to her child?"

For a moment Werner was at a loss for words, but then Lina responded. "Werner was Otto's closest friend, so he had her watched for many months after she returned to the outer sectors. She didn't have the resources to take care of the baby, but she kept it until it was about two years old when she gave it up to Child Protection Services."

Remembering the questions her father had asked Duo about his experiences growing up, she concluded, "You told him, didn't you?"

Werner nodded. "He wanted to find his son, to help him, but by that time, the child was absorbed into the system. There was no record of his adoption, and the orphanage in Sector 13 into which he had initially been placed notoriously lost its children, either in death from neglect and abuse or when they ran away to live on the streets. Several male children the age of his son died during the time he would have been there, and since Otto couldn't find him despite the time and money he spent on the effort, he had to believe that his son was one of those unfortunate children."

"Did he contact the boy's mother?" Hilde asked, unsure of how she should feel about her father's obsession with her half-brother even after discovering that he was dead.

Lina and Werner exchanged a look before Werner responded. "I suggested that he forget about her and let her get on with her life, but he couldn't leave her be. He found her working at a club in Sector 13. According to Otto, she blamed him for what happened to their son and told him that she never wanted to see him again."

Hilde saw her purse on the desk, so she took it and stuffed the letters back inside. "My father pined all those years for a dead son and a woman that hated him."

"Leaving his estate to that son was his final act of atonement," Werner told her. "You are his only child in the eyes of the law, Hilde. His estate belongs to you."

"I don't want it!" She felt no less hurt now after hearing what had happened to her brother than when she finished reading her father's letters.

"You will claim it," announced Lina. "And if you do not step forward, Werner will do it for you."

Hilde didn't want her father's estate, didn't feel as though she deserved it when he didn't care about her. She was nothing more than an accident that he regretted. "I'm not discussing this anymore. I need to return to my place. Andreas and I have plans for the evening." She took out her phone and sent a message to Hans to meet her in front of the house.

Lina's gaze softened. "I am glad that you are going to spend time with him. The election is in a few days, and when that business is done, we can get back to planning your wedding."

Without responding, Hilde went to Lina, gave her a hug before doing the same with Werner. He held her for a moment as if he did not want to release her, but she couldn't protest when his embrace soothed her.

The car was waiting outside the house, Hans standing by the open door, and as she moved past him to climb in, she gave him an abrupt command to take her back to her apartment. When he was on the road, she opened her purse and took out the letters, smoothing them out carefully before folding each one. Even though they were not to her and that her half-brother had died long ago, she had no choice but to acknowledge that there was some decency in Otto Schbeiker if he could care so deeply for the child of the woman he had loved. These letters were the only proof of that man existing.

When she came to the last one, she noticed that it was dated almost a year before her father's death. Given what she had learned about the search for his son, his discussion with Duo must have pushed him over the edge. Duo had been on the streets since before he had conscious memories, watched over by older children until he could fend for himself by begging, stealing and digging in trash. He told her that the street orphans slept in service tunnels during the day and came out only at night to find food. They did whatever they had to in order to survive. Knowing that about his past made it easier for Hilde to believe in his guilt when he was sent to prison. The night he spoke to Duo, Otto must have given up any hope he had nurtured that his son still lived and didn't see any point in continuing his own life.

Closing her eyes, Hilde tried to recapture her memories of that night, but they were fuzzy, and she knew it was due to her intensive therapy with Dr. Koenig. She might never know what really happened when she returned to the Schbeiker mansion the night of her father's death expecting to be lectured by him for her unacceptable relationship. Why would he tell her to return so that he could speak to her if he was planning to kill himself? And why didn't he leave a note? Didn't he realize she would want answers? He couldn't have foreseen that she would find his letters. If Duo hadn't been with her and seen copies of the books he treasured from his own childhood, it was possible that they never would have been found.

There was one man she could ask, but he was gone. The last time she had seen Helmut was that night when he escorted her and Duo to the door. Hilde remembered her father telling Helmut to return to his study to help him with something. She had never wondered what Otto wanted Helmut to do, but now she needed to know more about the last few hours of her father's life. Hilde had to find Helmut because he had spent his entire life devoted to Otto, and if anyone knew the true state of Otto Schbeiker's mind that night, it would be him.


	30. Chapter 29

**TWENTY-NINE**

"Papa, you won't believe what I saw today! There was water falling from the sky!"

Duo smiled at Mia's wide-eyed expression as Jamila came to sit beside her. "It's raining, silly! And we can't go to the park because of it." Jamila waved at Duo, but she didn't have a chance to speak because her mother called, and she hurried away.

"Are you feeling well?" Duo asked, anxious about how she was handling the effects of the increased gravity since she landed on Earth the previous day.

"I was sick yesterday, but I am better today. Jamila wants to go to the park, but Dorothy said I should rest another day. I want to go to the park too. We can't go anyway because there is water fall ..." she paused, and her face screwed up as if she were thinking hard and then amended, "it's raining."

Jamila appeared behind Mia. "Mama says we can go to the park and run in the rain if you say it is okay, Duo."

Mia seemed overwhelmed with excitement by the prospect, so Duo said, "Go ahead. You will have fun. But make sure you have a hot bath when you return."

"I miss you papa!" exclaimed Mia before she let Jamila drag her away from the telecom.

Dorothy appeared on the viewer. "I had a doctor examine Mia and he told me that she is weathering her arrival on Earth well, but she should have a little more rest. I won't let them stay in the park long, but Mia wants to experience the rain and Jamila is excited to be the one to introduce her to it."

"I think I know how Mia feels," commented Duo as he remembered his own first experience with rain.

"I'll make sure she gets that hot bath, and later we are going to a children's museum where I am sure they will have a lot of fun."

"She will tell me about it tomorrow." Duo wished he could be with Mia to see the wonder in her eyes when she felt the rain splashing on her face or to watch her excitement at all that she would see and do at the museum. Life with him when she returned could not compare.

"I know what you are thinking." Dorothy was frowning at him. "Mia misses you every moment and she will be happy to return to the colony so that she can be with you."

He hoped she was right. "I have to get to work."

"What is the soup of the day today?" she asked with a smile.

"Chicken gumbo." Duo already knew how to make it, and since it was a recipe created by Rogelio, it was a restaurant specialty and attracted more than a few extra customers when it was served as the soup du jour.

"Sounds delicious. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Same time, same place," he agreed before she disappeared from the screen.

Sighing, he headed out of his room where he had taken the call so that he could have privacy, and he was mildly irritated to find Bridget and Madame Chantal sharing tea. He hadn't seen either of them when he returned the night before and was hoping to avoid Bridget all day, but she smiled brightly at him.

"Are you going down to work now? We can go together."

"Sure." He looked at Madame Chantal. "Were you able to find any places I can afford?"

"None any closer than Sector 9," she said with a sigh.

Duo didn't want to live that far out. Colony police didn't take their job seriously in the outer sectors so there was a proliferation of gangs and violence. He shuddered as he remembered the night in the ventilation tube when he and Mia had been threatened. Duo didn't want such incidences to become everyday occurrences in their lives. In addition, the housing was poor and ill-maintained. If he could help it, he wanted to keep Mia away from there or she would be doomed to a life as dismal as his own.

"Don't give up hope. I will keep looking," Madame Chantal told him. "Tell Rogelio that I will be down in a few minutes."

Heading to the steps, Duo waited to allow Bridget to precede him and then followed her down. When they reached the office, she turned to face him, and he nearly ran into her. Before he could take a step back, she moved closer and put her hands on his chest.

"If you were to get a roommate, you could afford to live closer to this sector."

"I suppose you have one in mind." Duo had hoped after their exchange the previous evening that she would accept that he wasn't interested in her, but since he had come upon her with Madame Chantal, he suspected the two of conspiring to bring them together.

"Mia already knows me, and I think we could get along very well." Bridget stretched up to kiss him, but Duo moved his head to avoid the touch of her lips. Dropping her hands away from him, she stepped back, and he expected her to be angry, but she only shrugged. "You know where to find me when you change your mind."

Duo wanted to tell her that he wasn't going to change his mind, but she probably wouldn't listen anyway. She left him to join the other waitresses getting ready to serve the midday meal, and Duo head to the kitchen where he found Rogelio just starting his daily pep talk to the staff. When he finished, Duo relayed Madame Chantal's message to him before he went to work on the soup. By the time the lunch crowd arrived, he had finished his part of the meal by following Rogelio's recipe to the letter and he was going to take a break when the chef came to him.

"There is a customer that wants to compliment you personally."

"I didn't do anything special," Duo told him with a grunt. "I just threw things in the pot according to your directions."

Rogelio snorted and slapped him on the back. "If only it were that easy! Get out there and take a bow." His brows drew together as he looked at the mess Duo had made on his apron. "Change that before you go out. You don't want them thinking you fell in the pot."

Duo had never been called into the dining area before, so he was nervous as he took off the apron and put on a clean, white smock. Madame Chantal was waiting for him in the hallway that led to the dining area. She straightened his clean, white toque and brushed her hands over the front of his smock to smooth out any wrinkles before tugging down the sleeves to be sure they covered his tattoos. Looking at him from head to foot, she nodded with approval and led him out through the dining area where Duo suddenly felt like the main attraction as other diners turned their heads to follow his progress.

She stopped at a table to introduce him to a middle-aged man and woman whose names he immediately forgot. Both told him how much they enjoyed the chicken gumbo, and Duo thanked them politely for their praise although he didn't think he had done much to deserve it since it was Rogelio's recipe and he hadn't deviated from it. Madame Chantal stood quietly by watching him with a proud smile which made Duo feel more uncomfortable than he already did. When the woman asked him if he considered taking on the role of chef in his own kitchen, Duo nearly scoffed, but he managed to politely tell her that he was happy working for Rogelio and had no immediate plans to leave.

He was glad when they complimented him again and he could return to the kitchen, but on the way, a movement caught his eye and he turned his head to see Heero signal to him. He was sitting at a table with Relena who was on her phone, so after getting Madame Chantal's permission to take a break to talk to them, he went to them and pulled up a chair from an empty table nearby so that he could join them.

Relena ended her conversation and looked at him. "Did you make the gumbo, Duo? It was delicious!"

"Who knew you were so skilled?" remarked Heero with a wry smile.

Duo shrugged. "There's nothing to it. Get the ingredients and throw them in a pot."

"If it were that easy, anybody could do it." Relena smiled at him. "Maybe you have a knack for cooking."

"I don't want to be a cook for the rest of my life," Duo grumbled.

Heero reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a card from an inside pocket that he placed on the table and slid towards him. "The home office approved payment for your work. You should be pleased by the amount."

Duo took the card and shoved it in his pants pocket. "I didn't do much."

"You did a lot," Relena told him. "The investigation is moving forward rapidly. With the election in only two days, the colony cannot afford to choose a corrupt man as its governor. We are hoping to bring charges as early as tomorrow."

"Either way, the Preventer tech department has already shut down the means to gather money by infiltrating their system with a virus. I'm sure the corporation behind the operation has its own experts, but by the time they scrub this virus, our people will have collected enough data to lock away whoever is behind it for a long time."

"You mean Werner Richter," Duo said. He didn't know how to feel about what they were doing when he knew how close Hilde was to the powerful Teuton.

"We have a head start," Heero told him. "Do I need to warn you not to tell Hilde Schbeiker what we are doing?"

"Seems like you just did." Duo didn't feel right about keeping it from her, especially after he hadn't been completely open about what happened at Dr. Koenig's office.

"As much as I like Hilde," spoke up Relena, "we don't know how involved she is."

"Hilde wouldn't have anything to do with taking money from hard-working people!" Duo was outraged that she could suggest such a thing.

"Not knowingly," Relena said.

"From what we have discovered so far, the money collected throughout the colony is distributed among a select group of Teuton families living in Sector 1. They are referred to as the first families because they were the first settlers on the colony. On Earth they made up a tight-knit community that rarely let outsiders in."

"I have been researching the origins of the colony," Relena told Duo. "The Teuton community backed its construction financially, mainly with the wealth of Horst Jaeger whose vision was to relocate the Teuton community on the colony where it could be isolated. Unfortunately, he had to rely on labor from other ethnic backgrounds to build it, and when it was completed, he and his son tried unsuccessfully to remove the labor force. There is some suspicion that the widespread destruction of the outer sectors during the war was one such attempt to drive them from the colony."

Duo wished Relena didn't tell him her findings because he was finding it difficult to be objective. His childhood was scarred by what happened during the war and it had shaped his life. And because of what Fitz had told him, Duo was sure that Teutons, if not Hilde's own father, had arranged for him to spend five years of his life in prison. Given what he had witnessed at Dr. Koenig's office, he should consider himself lucky that he hadn't ended up with a bullet through his skull.

"The extortion you uncovered is just the latest attempt in driving non-Teutons from the colony," finished Relena. "In the last few years, hundreds have left to settle on other colonies or to return to Earth as the price of doing business and living on this one becomes increasingly impossible to afford."

"We can assume that the Phoenix Group is involved in the scheme," said Heero. "It now owns all of Sector 13."

Duo looked at him, anxious because of Hilde's involvement with the financial conglomerate. "Is Werner Richter behind the Phoenix Group?"

"We haven't been able to crack their security," Heero told him. "The tech guys tell me that they haven't found links from anybody on the colony to the Phoenix Group. All communication from them seems to be from Earth."

"Whoever is behind it is too smart to be caught," commented Relena.

"There is one person who might be able to help us, but we can't risk asking her."

Duo wanted to put his fist in Heero's face for implying that Hilde might be involved in the financial corruption of the colony, but he knew the other man was right. What did he really know about Hilde? She had kept the truth of her background from him. How did he know she wasn't hiding even more?

"I should get back to the kitchen." Duo stood and patted the pocket where he had put the card. "Thanks, Heero, for helping me. I'm hoping this will be enough to get a place for me and Mia to live."

"Can I count on you if I need your help again?" asked Heero, and Duo had the feeling that his friend was worried that his relationship with Hilde might get in the way of working for the Preventers.

"You know you can," he told him before he left them to return to the kitchen.

Rogelio greeted him with a mighty hug before explaining that the man and woman to whom he had spoken were the most influential food critics in the colonies. Now the fame of the restaurant would spread throughout the Earth Sphere United Nation. Duo was glad he could help, but he was thinking more about looking for a place to live.

That evening when he finished work, he returned to the apartment long before Madame Chantal or Bridget and after determining how much he had been paid – Heero was right, he was more than pleased by the amount – he started searching the listings for places in the inner sectors he could afford. Finding one in Sector 5 on a small, private lot that had two bedrooms that he could afford, he made an appointment to see it in person the following day.

Madame Chantal and Bridget returned to the apartment just as he finished completing the financial disclosure form to prove he could pay for the residence and he was happy to tell them about it.

"I didn't realize that the Preventers paid so well," remarked Madame Chantal.

"It's dangerous work." Duo had been attacked and arrested during his short assignment for Heero.

"Since you're a dangerous guy," said Bridget, "maybe you would agree to walk me back to my apartment. I need to get a few things."

Duo didn't want to, but he could see by the look in Madame Chantal's eyes that he couldn't refuse. "You want to do it tonight or tomorrow morning before work?"

Bridget seemed surprised that he accepted although he suspected that the two women had already discussed how to get him to help her. "If you don't mind, I would rather go tonight. It won't take long. Give me a few minutes to change."

After she had gone, Madame Chantal smiled at Duo. "Thank you for helping her."

Because he hadn't heard anything from Liam since that first night when he refused to wait on them at the night club, Duo wondered if he was as much a threat as the two women seemed to believe. "I haven't changed my mind about her," he warned Madame Chantal.

Madame Chantal put her hand on his shoulder as she walked by, and although she didn't say anything, he sensed that she still had hope he would consider seriously dating Bridget. Maybe they were both right and that he should move on, but he didn't want to be with any woman but Hilde. He had fallen in love with her a long time ago and his feelings hadn't changed. Duo could not imagine a future where they would.

Bridget returned from her room wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, so he knew she wasn't going to attempt some sort of seduction. On the walk to her apartment building, she asked him about Mia's call, so he talked about Mia's experience with rain that day.

"I envy her. I've never seen rain," she lamented. "I doubt I will ever leave the colony."

If not for the war, Duo wouldn't have left the colony either and he wouldn't care. As it was, he wasn't particularly interested in returning to Earth. "I'm glad she got the opportunity. I hope she had fun playing in the rain today."

As they continued to walk, Bridget talked about her workday and mentioned how happy Madame Chantal was that the food critics would be spreading the news about her restaurant. Duo was glad for her, but hearing Bridget talking about his role in Madame Chantal's success made him realize that in addition to moving out, he had to find something he could do with his life that would make him happy. Once he was settled in a new home, he would actively search for a new job. While he would always be grateful to Madame Chantal for giving him a job and helping both him and Mia when they were in desperate need, he couldn't rely on her for the rest of his life.

On the way to Bridget's apartment, Duo didn't see anybody lurking in the shadows and he made a mental note to ask Heero to investigate Liam's whereabouts on the colony. At the front door to her building, Bridget keyed in the code and turned to look at Duo. "Will you come up? Liam has access to my place and I'm afraid he might be there."

Duo resisted the urge to make a sound of annoyance. He didn't think Liam was anywhere near her apartment, but he couldn't refuse to help her if she honestly believed Liam might harm her. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something did happen to her.

The door opened to an elevator, and he stepped in with Bridget to ride to an upper floor that was her apartment. When the door opened, Duo moved past her into the dark room and he was surprised that the lights did not turn on automatically. He turned to ask Bridget if she wanted him to fix them, but the door to the elevator closed with her inside and he saw that it was heading back down.

Duo spun around, expecting to be attacked in the dark, but it didn't happen, and for a moment he thought he was alone and that maybe Bridget had accidentally let the door to the elevator close, but when his eyes accustomed to the dark, he realized that someone was sitting in an armchair in the living area. A movement on the other side of the room drew his attention and he saw another shadowy figure.

"Don't mind my friend. He won't bother you."

Not only did the voice sound older than Liam, but he had a faint accent that Duo associated with Teutons.

"Sit down please."

With a wary glance at the man lurking in the shadows, Duo decided he probably shouldn't refuse, so he went to the nearby couch and sat. He couldn't quite make out the features of the man in the chair, but he could see that he had a glass in his hand.

"Are you a friend of Bridget's?" asked Duo, already knowing the answer.

"No, but I have found her to be very informative. Of course, she didn't call me. She called someone who would not have been as understanding as I am, and fortunately my friend here intercepted the call."

"I don't know what you are talking about," but Duo suspected that he did.

The man in the shadows did not speak for a moment as he drank, and then he set aside the glass and leaned forward. Duo had never seen him in person, but he recognized him from news stories. Werner Richter.

"I think you know what I want, but to keep from playing guessing games, I will be blunt. You will stay away from Hilde Schbeiker."

He was soft spoken, but the warning was loud and clear. Duo wanted to tell him that it was Hilde's choice, but he didn't really know if it was or not.

Richter continued. "Hilde is overwhelmed by everything that has happened lately, and I think you have been taking advantage of her."

"I haven't," he denied.

"Perhaps I have been mistaken all along. How could a man like you manipulate Hilde?" Richter laughed softly. "I should have realized that she is using you."

"She's not using me!" Duo was furious, and he half rose, but suddenly a hand clamped on his shoulder and shoved him roughly down.

"I see that I have struck a nerve. I don't know whether to be disappointed in Hilde or proud of her for how she has treated you. But I am sure now after seeing you that you are nothing more than a diversion for her, someone to amuse her. Surely you know you can be nothing more than that."

His gut wrenched. "You're wrong."

"You can't possibly believe that you have a future with her. Her future is with Andreas Becker, and once they are married, she will not see you again. They will make their lives together, have children and while she may think of you from time to time, it will be with amusement as she remembers the follies of her youth."

His words weren't any that Duo hadn't considered before, but hearing this man voice them had the power to hurt because Richter knew Hilde better than he did.

"What do you want me to do?" Duo asked after a moment of silence between them even though he already knew what he wanted.

"Stay away from her."

The man behind him shifted and Duo interpreted it as a threat. "And if she comes looking for me?"

"You will send her away." Richter rose, and when Duo tried to stand, the thug behind him shoved him back down. "That young woman who brought you here, she's quite pretty, and she's your kind. Given the circumstances," he glanced at Duo's wrists, "you could do much worse."

He headed to the door, but after he pressed the button to the elevator, Duo said, "You can't change how I feel about Hilde. If she wants to be with me, I won't reject her." He couldn't believe that her feelings were as shallow as Richter thought.

Richter didn't turn around. "Perhaps my friend can do a better job of convincing you to stay away from her than I did." The door opened, and he stepped into the elevator. "You may want to decide what is more important, Mr. Maxwell, your selfish feelings for Hilde or your selfless love of your child. You can't have both."

The door closed, and pain exploded in his head from behind, but not before he registered the threat Richter had made to his daughter.


	31. Chapter 30

THIRTY

In the past when Hilde had a special evening with Andreas at her apartment, she would have taken the afternoon off from work to get ready. Now as she sat on the couch, the room illuminated by the light of only one small lamp, she remembered with disgust how much effort she had put into the first time she had invited him to her apartment. She had been over-awed by the ambitious man whose meteoric rise in the prosecutor's office coupled with his good looks made him the most eligible bachelor on the colony. Werner had introduced them at a dinner party, and his charm made Hilde decide that it was time to lock away the past along with the man who had broken her heart.

Andreas had been respectful from the start and did not push for any intimacy she wasn't ready to give, and when she was finally ready to take that step, she had worked harder than necessary to make that night special, hoping that it would overcome her reluctance to be with a man other than Duo Maxwell. After an afternoon spent at a salon enduring manicures, facials and waxing that had more in common with torture than a beauty regimen, Hilde welcomed Andreas to her apartment wearing a clingy silk dress over lacy lingerie that had made her blush when she put it on. The night was probably one that he remembered fondly while she wondered since then why it felt like work to enjoy sex with him.

Now she sat in near dark wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt unbuttoned over an undershirt, and there was nothing remotely enticing about her lingerie. She had no intention of entertaining Andreas. Her phone buzzed, and glancing at it, she didn't recognize the number, but by the prefix, she saw that it was from Sector 3. Duo didn't have a phone, but she thought he might have borrowed one to call her, so she pressed the button to answer it.

"Hello?"

There was a moment of silence before a woman's voice said, "It's all your fault, you selfish Teuton bitch!" Then the line went dead.

Pursing her lips with annoyance, Hilde set aside the phone. She didn't have to recognize the voice to know who had called her. Duo's waitress friend, Bridget. She didn't know what Bridget was talking about, and she didn't have time to wonder because she heard the door to her apartment opening. She stood and turned in time to face Andreas who was carrying a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bag of take-out from a restaurant nearby.

"I hope you have some wine," he said as he headed to the kitchen to set everything on the counter without looking at her. "I didn't think about it until I was in the elevator."

"We won't need wine." Hilde pursed her lips with annoyance as she watched him take out plates and head to the balcony to set the table, not once even so much as glancing in her direction. He was a man who was confident that he was going to get what he wanted without making any effort. How long ago had he dropped his facade and what had ever made her believe she could forget Duo with him? Did it coincide with Dr. Koenig prescribing her a stronger dose of medicine?

Andreas returned from the balcony loosening his tie. "The polls look good. I have a slight lead, but I think when we make an appearance together in Sector 6 tomorrow, it will increase. Kurt has been heavily pushing the fact that you enlisted and fought in the war, and since that sector saw damage in the attack on the outer sectors, I think we can win quite a few voters away from Hannibal Grey. Some voters in Sector 6 suffered losses similar to his own which make them sympathetic to his campaign, but most have little in common with him."

As he spoke he went to the kitchen where he busied himself with taking out the meal he had brought for them to share. Hilde hadn't moved, and for all he had noticed, she might as well not be there. She watched him take the food out to the balcony, and when he returned, he finally looked at her.

"You should hurry and change before the food gets cold." He returned to the kitchen and started taking out bottles from the wine rack to look at the labels to find one he approved of.

"I'm not changing," she announced.

Andreas chuckled. "Very funny, Hilde." He decided on a bottle and opened a drawer to take out a cork screw. As he worked at opening the bottle, he looked across the room at her. "You've had your little joke. Now go put on something presentable. I'm not sharing my meal with someone that looks like a Sector 10 ruffian." He grabbed a couple of wine glasses. "I prefer something that ends above the knee and don't bother putting anything on underneath. I don't want anything getting in the way."

Hilde's face burned with anger. "Maybe you didn't hear me. I am not changing."

Andreas set the glasses down and poured wine into both of them. "You seem to be out of sorts."

"What do you suggest I do? Take the medication that Dr. Koenig prescribed?"

He raised his brow. "If that's what it will take to calm you, then I suppose you should."

"Do you already have another doctor lined up for me to see now that Dr. Koenig is dead?"

Andreas sipped from his glass of wine and then set it aside before saying, "I see that his death has affected you. I should have realized that it would."

"I stopped seeing him," she told him. "when I realized that he was prescribing me dangerous drugs."

He was very good at feigning his surprise. "Why would he do such a thing?" And then his gaze narrowed. "How did you discover what he was doing?"

"I have friends who look out for me!"

Shaking his head, he said, "You mean your powerful friends from the Earth Sphere United Nation? I suppose Relena Darlian gave your pills to her Preventer 'friend' Heero Yuy for testing."

"Does it matter? I know what you were doing to me."

"Me?" His brows shot up. "I had nothing to do with Dr. Koenig. You were being treated by him well before we started seeing each other."

Hilde could not argue that claim, but she couldn't believe he didn't know anything about what Koenig was doing to her. "If I hadn't been so heavily medicated, I would never have gotten involved with you."

He frowned at her. "This is hardly the time to have such a discussion."

"Why not? What better time than when I discover that you had an affair with my mother?" Hilde was infuriated by the lack of concern on his handsome face. "Are you going to deny it?"

He shrugged. "Why bother? I suppose Ingrid couldn't keep it to herself anymore. It was a long time ago and could hardly qualify as an affair. She was a bored widow with many years of pent-up sexual energy and I took advantage of it. It meant nothing to either of us. We both moved on when the attraction ran its course."

Hilde was incredulous. "Do you seriously think I will marry you after hearing that?"

He picked up the wine glass and drained it before setting it aside to approach her. "Yes, because you don't have a choice."

She raised her chin. "I have a choice. I can opt out of this restrictive society with its archaic traditions and rules."

Andreas seized her upper arms and dragged her against him. "You are not opting out of anything! You will marry me, and you will be a dutiful wife."

"Never! You're a lying bastard, and I won't spend the rest of my life tied to you." She tried to twist away from him, but he tightened his grip on her upper arms, so she spit in his face.

When he released her, she didn't have a chance to escape him because he struck her with the back of his hand so hard that she stumbled back and lost her footing. Falling to the floor, she tried to roll away, but he kicked her in the side and she doubled over with pain as she struggled to breathe.

He fell to his knees beside her and seized her hair in a painful, tight grasp and forced her to look at him. "Have you been fucking that filthy outer sector rat?"

When she didn't answer, he rammed his knee into her belly and she nearly lost consciousness from the pain. "Answer me, you bitch!"

She forced herself to look at his face and saw that it was twisted with rage. Had this madman always lived beneath the veneer he showed to the public? She had gotten a glimpse of him briefly when his jealousy had flared to life during her dance with Triton Bloom. Now she was seeing the true Andreas Becker, and there was no way anyone would convince her to tie her life to his.

When she didn't answer him, he balled his hand into a fist, but she didn't give him a chance to strike her because she kneed him in the groin, not as hard as she would have liked, but enough to stop him and give her a chance to roll away. She was scrambling to her feet when he caught her and dragged her back down to the floor, grabbed her hair and slammed her head down so hard that she must have lost consciousness. When she came to, she was still lying on her belly, blood pouring from her nose and mouth from her cut lips, and Andreas was tugging on her clothing.

"I'm getting what you gave that filthy bastard." He yanked her pants to her ankles and forced her up to her knees as he put his hand on her back to keep her pinned to the floor. "I warned you of the consequences of betraying me."

Although she was dizzy and in danger of losing consciousness again, Hilde dared to goad him. "Are you going to kill me?"

He leaned forward to say in her ear, "No, but you will spend the rest of your life wishing I had."

She braced herself for his assault, but the door buzzed, startling them both. Hilde opened her mouth to scream for help, but Andreas clamped a hand over her lower face, keeping her from making a sound or breathing. The door buzzed again, and then they heard a voice over the intercom.

"Hilde, it's Werner. I would like to speak to you."

Andreas snorted in her ear. "Don't imagine I am going to let daddy in. I've had enough interference from that bastard in my personal life. My only consolation is that someday he'll be dead, and I'll have everything that was once his."

Hilde was feeling faint from lack of oxygen, and she tried to claw at his hand, but he held her tight. She didn't understand what he was talking about, nor did she care when her immediate concern was her survival.

Suddenly the door slid open, and Andreas yanked her around to face it. Kurt Vogel walked in with Werner close behind, but they stopped when they became aware of them on the floor.

"I don't recall inviting you to our intimate evening," said Andreas, his voice unnaturally high. "Did you invite them, my dear?" He laughed. "That's right, you can't speak now."

"Let her go," said Werner calmly.

Hilde struggled against his hold as her vision began to fade. She turned her wide, desperate gaze to Werner who gave a nod to Kurt. The other man moved so fast that Andreas couldn't react before he was torn away from her and propelled across the room to be pinned against the wall, his feet off the floor with Kurt's elbow biting into his neck to prevent him from moving or breathing.

Werner hurried to Hilde who was lying on the floor gasping for breath, and when she was no longer in danger of passing out, she pulled up her pants with shaking hands. Werner helped her to sit on the sofa where he used a handkerchief to dab at her bleeding nose. He didn't say anything as he put the cloth in her hand and went to the kitchen to wet a couple of towels that he brought back, one to clean her and one to press to the side of her face where he had initially struck her.

Nobody spoke. Hilde was feeling disoriented and embarrassed to be come upon on the verge of being raped by the man she had agreed to marry, and she could sense that Werner was enraged although he was being gentle as he took care of her. When he was satisfied that she was all right, he stood and crossed the room to where Andreas was struggling against Kurt's hold.

"Mr. Becker, I believe we have already had a discussion about how you treat Hilde and you gave me your word that you would only treat her with respect."

Hilde didn't know what he was talking about until she remembered that Andreas had been rough with her after she had been dancing with Triton, and that she had told Werner about it. After that day, Andreas had been distant, but she thought it was because he was remorseful for how he had treated her.

Werner nodded to Kurt. He released Andreas who doubled over coughing and gasping for breath just as she had only moments ago. When he recovered, he took a step towards Werner, but Kurt shoved him back against the wall. Hilde was amazed that she hadn't realized that Kurt was so strong or that he served as more than his campaign manager.

When he was able to breathe again, Andreas looked at Werner. "I might treat your precious brat better if she weren't a whore!"

Kurt slammed his hand into Andreas' ribs, and he might have fallen had the other man not seized him around the throat to keep him standing.

"Is that any way to talk about your future wife?" Looking at Andreas as if he were a recalcitrant dog, Werner shook his head. "After all that I have done for you, Becker, I would expect better behavior." He looked away from Andreas to Kurt. "Escort him back to his apartment. Remind him to whom he owes his gratitude, and make sure he is presentable for the rally tomorrow."

As Kurt seized him by the upper arm and dragged him across the room, Andreas turned his head to glare, whether at her or at Werner, she did not know. When he had gone, Werner sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair before he returned to the sofa where Hilde held the wet towel to her swelling cheek. He sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"I think it would be best if you came with me. Kurt will be able to calm him down, but I don't want to take any chance that he will come back."

Hilde didn't want to leave her apartment, but she also didn't want to risk being alone with Andreas again, so she agreed to go with him. Werner called for Hans to meet them in front of the building, and after she gathered a few toiletries and a change of clothing, he escorted her down to the car.

He didn't ask any more than necessary questions until they were on the way to his home, and then he reached out to take her hand in his. "Will you tell me what happened?"

She hesitated, but then she realized that Werner was going to find out from Andreas anyway. "I told him that I am not going to marry him."

Werner didn't say anything at first, and then he sighed deeply. "I feared you were considering breaking the engagement."

"I never agreed to marry him," she began to explain, but he interrupted.

"I arranged your marriage to him."

Hilde was astounded. "When did this happen? Were you going to give me a say?"

"Since I introduced you to him, you haven't given me the impression that you would object to marrying him. Until recently you seemed to be happy with him."

There was nothing she could say to deny that she had been happy with Andreas, although content would be a better term. She had been comfortable with him, proud to be his companion when so many other women wanted him, and Hilde could admit to herself now that she just wanted to forget Duo Maxwell. She didn't love Andreas, and she was horrified to realize that if Duo hadn't come back into her life, she would have married him.

"I don't love him."

Werner smiled wryly. "I'm surprised you would consider that a pre-requisite for marriage."

"You love Lina," she said, looking at him in the shadowy dim light in the back of the car.

"I didn't always love her," he admitted to her surprise. "We were introduced by our parents at her coming out party. Of all the eligible men invited, she decided that she wanted me. We were married within a month."

Hilde was surprised to hear that they hadn't courted and fallen in love in the usual manner considering how close they were now. "Did you know her before your parents introduced you?"

"I knew of her, but I had never met her. Until her coming out party, she didn't go out socially."

"Did you ever regret marrying her?" Hilde doubted it, considering how happy they were together.

He did not speak immediately, and then he said, "I suppose I regretted losing my freedom." He chuckled softly. "Otto and I had our pick of women, but all that needed to end when I married Lina."

His choice of words made Hilde wonder if he wasn't eager to give up his freedom. "You barely knew her. Your marriage could not have been easy at the beginning."

Werner sighed. "I suppose it wasn't. Lina didn't understand the demands my job took on my time. She believed that marriage was going to be an endless round of garden parties, visits to the opera, dining at exclusive restaurants and visiting with other first families until one day she would be busy with children."

"She must have been crushed to discover she couldn't have children."

He squeezed her hands. "We tried everything to have children, but she wasn't able. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't as sympathetic as I should have been, and I didn't understand her desperate desire to be a mother until it was almost too late."

"You worked things out," Hilde said. "But I don't want to work things out with Andreas. I'm not going to marry him."

He released her hands. "Lina will be disappointed if she can't change your mind. She was looking forward to planning your wedding."

Hilde loved Lina, but she wasn't going to go through with marrying Andreas just to make her happy. She wanted to say that someday she would marry someone she loved, and that Lina could plan that wedding, but Hilde doubted Lina would approve of the man she loved. And after suspecting him of lying to her, she didn't know if she could even trust Duo anymore.

They arrived at Werner's home and after Hans opened the door, Werner helped her out and escorted her with his arm around her waist into the house. She was surprised to find his private physician waiting in the foyer along with Lina who was wringing her hands nervously. When she saw Hilde, she gasped in horror and tears sprang to her eyes, so Hilde knew she must look terrible. Although she insisted she could walk, Werner whisked her off her feet and carried her to her room where the doctor examined her. She was relieved to learn that her ribs weren't broken from Andreas' assault, but they were badly bruised. The doctor gave her a sedative and a pain reliever, then told her to take it easy for a few days to give her body a chance to heal.

Lina sat beside Hilde's bed as Werner walked the doctor out, and Hilde wanted to tell her about her decision not to marry Andreas, but the drugs the doctor had given her were already taking effect and she couldn't form any words. Tomorrow would be soon enough to be honest with Werner and Lina about what she intended to do with her life. Surely, they would understand her feelings for Duo when they loved each other so much. They would want the same for her.

Werner returned, and Lina turned to face him as she stood. "Where is Andreas?" she asked him, and Hilde recognized the same hard edge in her voice she had heard other times when Lina didn't think she was listening. She must have assumed that the drugs had made her insensate, and while she was well on her way towards incoherent thought, she understood what was happening around her and what they were saying even though she couldn't react.

"Kurt took him back to his apartment. He will re-educate him."

"He has a rally tomorrow on the eve of the election. I trust that there will not be any visible evidence of his re-education."

"Kurt's methods are not so mundane to leave marks," Werner told her.

"We may have misjudged Andreas Becker." Hilde was aware that Lina was pacing. "He didn't learn anything from Kurt's lesson the first time he upset Hilde. I am beginning to believe that he has become arrogant."

"After tonight, he would be a fool to hurt her again."

Hilde wished she could tell them that Andreas wasn't going to get anywhere near her in the future, but she could not even move.

"Regardless, I do not trust him. As you recall, I never did, but I deferred to your judgement since you knew him better. After this election is over, we will have no further need of Andreas Becker, win or lose. As it is, Hilde is hardly in any shape to stand at his side tomorrow."

It was impossible for Hilde to say anything, so she couldn't tell them that nothing would induce her to stand next to Andreas ever again.

"You needn't worry. Dr. Melchior left some medication to help her get through the rally."

"I hope it will make her manageable."

"He guaranteed that it would."

Their conversation was becoming disjointed and Hilde felt as if she were floating away on a cloud. She thought she heard Werner say Duo's name, but she couldn't concentrate on their conversation to learn what they were talking about. She even wondered if she was imagining it because her last thought before losing consciousness was that she wished Duo were there.


End file.
